


The New Man

by algol_ardhanari



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:42:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 41,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26321347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/algol_ardhanari/pseuds/algol_ardhanari
Summary: A pair of heroes in a land where heroism is defined by gay sex encounter someone from a different world. Then, they discover their very world is changing, along with themselves, and their missions to be completed in that universe.Work I decided to make using @MakidoTsukashi on Twitter's OCs and universe (with his permission, we are friends), adding and changing a few things about his creative world. It gets pretty kinky, very early on, but I'm new to AO3 so I couldn't find all the kink tags I needed (though, to note, it never veers into snuff/gore as kinks, or noncon/dubcon/shota; it's just kink with grown adult characters). The work originally started as an excuse to write smut with his characters, but later morphed into an actual story.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 6





	1. The Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Note: This chapter was written roughly one month before the chapters that followed, when I decided to actually sit down and consistently put out chapters. As such, it might feel different from everything that comes after.
> 
> Kink content: contains belly rubs, belly worship, and cum play. Assume every chapter from this point onwards is going to contain cum play.

…

High pitched ringing spreading from one ear to the other. The sound of his armor getting shattered into a million pieces. Maybe more. Maybe less. His helmet gone and the glare of the sun burning his eyes. Then, the realization he was falling, followed by his bare skin hitting the ground. His boots and shoulder guards too damaged to continue functioning properly, the black thong riding up his ass starting to fray and tear, his dark sword not answering to any of his calls for it to appear.

And, to top it all off, slowly descending before him, a dear friend, and a bitter enemy, with half of his own helmet shattered and strewn across the destruction around him. The hand holding his own light sword tightened around its grip as a lone tear ran down his cheek, washing the dirt and blood of battle down his skin.

And then, the realization that his scrapes and slashes were burning and he was more beat down and vulnerable than he had ever been in life.

It felt like the gaze of the man he’d come to call his friend was going to burn a hole into his skull. Though he tried to say something, Dusker couldn’t find any words, his breath hitching in his throat. It took a massive amount of willpower to say anything, and it still came out as a hoarse whisper. “Sha—“

“What the **fuck** do you think you are doing!?” Shane was angry. He wasn’t just angry – he was completely and utterly furious. “You… you were with _them_ all along?”

Though his shyness was in every way just a persona, and his true self was more boisterous and took no names, Dusker suddenly found himself at a complete loss for words. “I can exp—“

“ **What** is there to explain, dipshit!?” Shane was crying. “ **What** could you even say that would make this all better, huh!?” He cried and shouted, his voice coming in rough, guttural shrieks. It sounded like he’d hurt his voice if he kept shouting like that, without control, but he didn’t seem to care. “You… you were working with the people that kidnapped my father all along? So all the time you spent with me sharing fliers and looking for him, were you lying about your concern too? Because you _knew_ where he was…?”

Dusker didn’t know what to say.

“Was it funny to you? Seeing in how much pain I was, knowing where my father truly was all along, and playing the role of a good friend anyways?” Shane’s sword glowed and he stepped forward. “Was it fucking **hilarious** to you or what!? Answer me!”

No words came to him. At that moment there was nothing he wished more than to fold into himself and disappear – for the earth to split in half and devour him whole, ending the shame he was feeling at that moment. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes, slowly running down his face as he blinked.

Shane kept advancing, his steps unwavering above the debris and dust from their battle. His sword grew larger and shinier by the second, a weapon of destruction. Dusker scrambled back, not finding the strength to stand up. He could only crawl backwards, staring in horror as his friend’s blade grew, obviously charging an attack. He was backed into a wall. Nowhere to go. Nothing to do but await the final blow. Shane stood with his feet between Dusker’s legs, pointing his sword at the man’s face, a mere inch away from his nose. His eyes crossed, staring at the shining tip of the blade. It burned. Just having it so close to his body made him burn inside.

Then, Shane slowly drew his arm back, preparing to slash sideways. Dusker could only close his eyes, aware that his end had come. He was going to die, right then and there. His throat was getting sliced open. He was going to bleed out, choking on his own blood, killed by the hand of the man he’d duped into believing he was his best friend while unknowingly scheming against him and holding his father captive. Maybe he deserved it, but his heart beating in his ears didn’t let him think of anything. He’d stop feeling that, too, very soon.

The light energy disappeared, and Shane’s sword handle hit the ground next to him. His angry frown dissipated into a pained grimace, still staring straight at Dusker. Slowly, he opened his eyes, realizing he was still alive, and looked up at the man. Through all the emotions Shane was feeling at that moment, he was first and foremost hurt at the betrayal. He had every right to be.

Shane pressed the sole of his boot against Dusker’s thonged groin, grinding down on it. “Take… take this pathetic thing away from me. I never want to see your face again. I’m not going to kill you because I hope you suffer for what you did to me.” He closed his eyes, one final tear running down his cheek. “…farewell.” Without looking at Dusker again, he turned around, picked up his sword grip, and flew away.

And, sitting there, with nothing but the weight of his actions on his shoulders and stomach, Dusker wondered if it’d have been better if he _had_ been killed at that moment.

* * *

…

“Ngh!”

Dusker stirred awake, knocking an empty beer can from his belly to the ground. The dull, somewhat unpleasant flavor of dried saliva, beer and grease filled his mouth. He was disoriented and dehydrated. Blinking a few times, he focused his eyes and looked around to remember where he was…

Right. That was the apartment of…

“…hey, you alright, man?” On another seat near him, Shane slowly awoke, obviously also asleep beforehand. The redhead rubbed his eyes and tried to focus his vision, knocking a beer can on the ground as he shifted. “Ugh…”

Dusker sat up on the couch, looking around. That was Shane’s new apartment, right. Still barren for the most part – all there was in the apartment was a bed (for Shane to sleep on, of course), some furniture, a couple of couches, a TV in the living room, a home theater, and some cooking utensils. And, of course, a series of unopened boxes near the entrance door. Shane had moved recently, and had called to Dusker for help, since the man was big, bulky and strong – if he couldn’t afford an actual moving company, his big friend was the next best thing, right?

Of course, they’d ordered a pizza and a few beers to keep themselves entertained while moving things. Then, with pizza and beer within the room, they’d decided to take a fifteen-minute break from setting things up in Shane’s apartment while they sat down, ate, and simply talked shit. Then, that fifteen-minute break turned into a half hour break. Then, they turned on the home theater and put some music on, and it turned into an hour long break. Then, they ordered another pizza and just kept hanging out and, before they knew it, the sun had gone down and they were no closer to finishing than they were several hours ago. It was inefficient, but at least they were having fun.

Of course, less fun was Dusker’s sensation of his heart beating on his ears. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down after the nightmare he’d just woken up from. “Uh…” Words didn’t come to him, just like they didn’t come to him in the nightmare. “Yeah, I’m fine, just…”

Shane’s eyebrows arched in concern. “Is it the same nightmare you’ve told me about?”

Dusker hesitated. “Yeah.”

Shane sighed into his palms.

* * *

It _was_ true that Shane wasn’t just Dusker’s friend, but one of the very few people he could actually, truly, wholeheartedly call a friend. It was _also_ true that Shane’s heroic alter ego was, for all intents and purposes, his mortal rival. Shining Sword was, appropriately, a lone beacon of hope against the machinations of the organization Shadow Blade was a part of. Even though there were several heroes and several suits out there, Shining Sword was the strongest of them all – all because he had personal stakes in beating the organization and recovering his father. Of course, the fact that he was rumored to be great at sex didn’t help matters either.

Dusker didn’t know this. He had no idea that his civilian best friend was, at the same time, his sworn enemy. In retrospect, he should have guessed – Shining Sword’s armpit hair, the stretch of hair leading down from his navel into his groin, and the very color of his armor was the same color as Shane’s (natural) orange hair. It only made sense. They didn’t sound really different, either.

Of course, the situation came to a head when they were locked in a confrontation and Shane landed a blow so decisive that he shattered part of Dusker’s helmet. While Shining Sword hesitated, Shadow Blade struck the side of his head, breaking apart a portion of Shane’s helmet. At that moment, the friends locked eyes, realizing who the other person was. Yet, Shane attacked one last time, fully breaking Dusker’s helmet apart, knocking him down to the ground, and then…

The events of that day replayed in Dusker’s head every single night since then. It had already been three months. Over time, the nightmares got worse – the dream was no longer accurate to what happened in reality. Shane never wished for Dusker to die. He never hated Dusker. He never prepared to slice his throat open, killing him on the spot. He never wished eternal pain on the man for what he had done. None of this mattered to Dusker’s guilt-ridden brain, and the dream took into the shape of what Dusker had felt had happened – or, at least, what he on some level felt should have happened. Surely, there was something out there about mulling on negativity giving people brain damage. He had no idea. He just knew the guilt and shame he felt that day gnawed away at his insides and, for a week after the event, he couldn’t bring himself to look Shane in the eye. Even after Shane, in his infinite gentleness, decided to reach out to Dusker and offer to remain his friend as long as Dusker switched sides in the fight (an offer Dusker took and ran with the moment it was given), he didn’t stop feeling guilty.

But he wanted to change and improve, and, on some level, become the mask of niceness he’d used to become Shane’s friend once. Shane, too, was changing, becoming more confident in himself – the shy (yet conspicuously attractive) man was disappearing and in his place was appearing a more confident, self-assured man, that was still no less nice and caring for the people around him.

An ideal man, in some regards. Maybe someone Dusker wanted to be. Maybe someone Dusker wanted to _be with._ He wasn’t too sure himself, and thinking too hard about it gave him a headache.

* * *

“Hey.” Shane had stood up and put a hand on Dusker’s shoulder. “It’s alright, I promise. We’re gonna find my dad together, and you’ve already switched and become my ally in this fight, alright? You need to stop thinking about what happened that day.” The smile on Shane’s lips was warm. Gentle.

Dusker groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. “I guess. It’s not like I’m _trying_ to remember what happened that day – it just comes to me. Can’t stop thinking about it, man.”

“It’s gonna go away, eventually. Promise.”

Dusker sighed. “Gotta keep waiting, I guess.”

Shane gently patted his shoulder and looked at the clock on the wall. “Ah, it’s 1 AM… It’s too late for you to go to your house.”

“Huh?” He looked up. Indeed. 1 AM. “Fuck, how long did we just sit here talking before passing out…?”

“I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Hey, dude, I can just call a taxi and I’ll get home in no time.” Dusker stood up and stretched, the lower edge of his hoodie lifting and giving a _tantalizing_ glimpse of his belly.

“No, no, it’s alright, Dusker.” Shane, of course, was having none of it. “I don’t mind you sleeping over, and you never know what might happen this late at night outside. You can’t really just whip out your sword to defend yourself, either…”

“More fun things I can whip out.”

“Shut up…” He playfully punched Dusker on the shoulder, before looking around the room. “Man… we aren’t just still where we were a few hours ago – we’re even worse. We still have a lot of things to unpack, and now there’s empty cans and pizza boxes all over…”

“Yeah, uh, my bad. Oops.” It was true, Dusker was the one that had initially had the idea to order pizza, and then to keep extending their break. “I’ll, uh, just pick this up tomorrow…”

“ _Today,_ you mean.”

Dusker glared at Shane. “Shut up, you know what I mean…”

The redhead couldn’t help chuckling – a chuckle that soon turned into a yawn. “Oh, man… you can stay in the couch, I’ll get you a pillow and blanket in a bit. Just leave your clothes on the ground if you want.”

“Huh, no inviting me to sleep in your bed?”

“And have me sleep on the couch? It’s my apartment!”

“No, I meant sleeping together in bed—y’know what, forget it.”

“Oh.” A slight blush crept up Shane’s cheeks. “Yeah, I really need proper sleep. I would have caught that otherwise.”

“You’re also gonna catch these hands if you keep fucking around…” Dusker idly rubbed his face as he spoke – he also wanted to sleep, very badly. “I guess I’m picking this up tomorrow and helping you unpack more…”

“We’ll see how we split tasks tomorrow, don’t worry.” Shane waved at Dusker and smiled. “Aight, good night!”

“Nighto.” Dusker waited until Shane got him his pillow and blanket, laid the pillow on the couch, took off his hoodie and shorts to sleep in only his underwear as he always did, laid down, and threw the blanket on himself. For a split second he thought it would be awkward if Shane walked in next morning and found him in just his underwear, the blanket on the ground from how much he stirred when he slept… but he figured that since he was Shadow Blade, Shane had technically seen him in an even more indecent state already.

He just hoped he didn’t have the same nightmare again. He was tired.

* * *

A new day, and fortunately no new messes to pick up. Though he didn’t bring a change of clothes, Shane had some clothes he lent to Dusker for him to wear after taking a shower (and also let him use his deodorant, since Dusker hadn’t brought any of that either). For the most part, Shane’s clothes fit Dusker – though the men had vastly different build, with Shane being more built like a ripped Adonis and Dusker being more overall bulky, with bigger muscles and an actual belly to speak of. What on Shane’s body was loose short and an airy, slutty stringer, on Dusker’s body became tight shorts and a regular tank top. Shane said he didn’t mind Dusker stretching the clothes out a little. Dusker was going to hold him to that.

Though he didn’t want to admit it out loud, some part of wearing Shane’s clothes and deodorant, and being so thoroughly engulfed in the way his friend smelled… was exciting. Erotic, even. He couldn’t bend down and smell his clothes or armpits without getting a half chub – which was problematic, because he had to continue working. Can’t lug around boxes and furniture with a boner between your legs and dick in your brain.

“Alright… now!” Shane was wearing his regular black tank top and green shorts – which was probably a good thing, because he was sweating from the exertion. Squatting, he slowly rose, holding the underside of a drawer with his hands. On the other end of the drawer, Dusker was doing the same thing, wearing a somewhat similar getup – though with purple shorts instead of green and with a graphic design on the stringer he was wearing.

“Ngh!” Dusker knew enough about deadlifting to know how to lift heavy objects properly – legs, not lower back. Even if Shane didn’t want to admit it, Dusker was doing most of the work when they moved furniture in pairs – he was just flat out physically stronger and could lift more weight. All that bulk was useful for something. “Aight, to your room, right?”

“Yep!” Shane was helping, anyways, so it wasn’t like bringing that fact up would be helpful.

They set the drawer down without incident, Shane more sore than Dusker for their trouble. Dusker leaned on the drawer, and looked straight at Shane. “Hey…”

“Yeah?”

“Did you **have** to transport this thing with all your shit inside?” He went over and punched Shane on the shoulder. “Couldn’t you have just… taken it all out and put it in a box or something? So heavy…”

“Hey!” He rubbed his shoulder. “No, I was… just feeling lazy, honestly…” He was almost gasping for air, from how heavy his breathing was. “At least with this, we can… set it down and be done with it!” A deep breath. “Okay. But if I was by myself, after setting it down, I’d have to take my things out of all their boxes and put them in the drawer on my own, after you’re gone…”

“So, you did it to make me do your work for you.” Dusker was completely nonplussed.

“Er…” Shane grimaced a bit. “I’m not saying you’re right, but… you’re… right?”

Dusker stared at Shane for a few seconds. Shane gave him an awkward smile and shrugged. Then, Dusker punched his other shoulder. “You little shit. You’re lucky you’re my best friend.”

“Haha, ow…”

Dusker turned around and walked out of the room, ready to pick up more things to move around the apartment. It was starting to look like an actual place an actual human lives in. It was less work than Dusker had expected – though perhaps it felt like time was going by faster because he was hanging out with a friend.

A dear friend.

“…”

…

Before long, they were done. It was lunchtime, but neither of them was hungry yet, so they just crashed on the couches in the living room that they’d crashed on the previous night. “Ah…” Dusker took a deep breath. “We’re finally done…”

“Yeah…” Shane was fanning himself with his hand. “Hey, thank you for the help, by the way. I wouldn’t have finished this quick if I didn’t have you helping me.”

“Anytime, dude.” He looked at the ceiling. “Hey, are you hungry?”

“Mm… nope. You?”

“Yeah, me neither. It’s almost lunchtime, but I guess I was so focused on the task I didn’t go hungry. Weird.” He got up. “Oh well.”

“Might as well wait before ordering something, yeah? There’s a good Chinese place near the apartment.”

“Oh, yeah, I could use some fried dumplings right now…” Dusker stretched. He looked off to the side, and caught his reflection on a full body mirror hanging from the wall.

His shirt had lifted a fair bit, and the bottom of his belly was showing – the strip of hair connecting his navel and his groin in plain view. Pudgy. Soft.

He frowned and groaned, idly rubbing his belly while looking in the mirror, a wistful look on his face. “Hm…”

Shane noticed. “Hey, everything alright?”

Dusker remained silent for a few seconds before speaking. “Hey, man… you think I’d make a more convincing hero if I was skinnier?”

That caught Shane off guard. “…huh?”

“I’m just saying, like… look at yourself. You don’t have an ounce of grease on your body, and you’ve got this perfect athletic build… you’re definitely built like a movie superhero. It’s easy to buy that you’re a hero, all clad in light armor, with that nice, warm voice, and that perfect build, and I’m…” He squeezed the bottom of his belly. “I’m just fat and so obviously evil. No hero is built like this.”

Shane frowned, worried. “Aw, don’t say that.”

Dusker didn’t react.

Then, Shane got an idea – somewhat mischievous. He got up, sneaked behind Dusker, and put his hands around the man’s belly. “Besides, this is hot too!”

“Wh—“

He squished his belly. “It’s so big and perfect, dude!” He rubbed it, running his hands in circles around it. “Bears are all the rage now! Just grow some more body hair and you’ll have guys all over you!”

Dusker couldn’t react – he was flushing and looking at the way he was getting groped, in a mixture of shock, horror… and something else.

“And, besides…” His hands went below Dusker’s belly, lifting it up and letting it flop back down. “Who wouldn’t want to be below that tummy when that happens~?”

“L-let me—“ Dusker wrestled away from Shane’s hold, embarrassed.

“Aw, c’mon, I’m just saying the truth, dude! It’s nice!” Shane laughed.

Dusker obviously didn’t find it funny. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it downwards, hiding his belly, his pale face bright red.

Shane stopped laughing. “Hey, did I go too far? Are you alright?”

“N-no, it’s alright, you’re fine!” Dusker’s voice was rushed and quick, almost stumbling over his words. “You d-didn’t go too far, it’s fine!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah! It’s fine, you didn’t hurt me!” Hastily, Dusker turned around and lifted his hands, shooting Shane an anxious smile.

“You look very bothered, what’s… wrong…”

Shane’s gaze slowly trailed downwards, and it soon became obvious why Dusker was so bothered. A throbbing, raging erection in Dusker’s pants was making his shorts tent, so intense that it was like he wasn’t wearing any underwear at all.

The profound blush returned to Dusker’s face as he realized what Shane was looking at. “I… I’m sorry…”

Shane gulped, his eyes still fixed on Dusker’s erection. “So… you enjoy, like… getting your belly rubbed and played with? Is that a thing?”

Dusker remained quiet, profoundly ashamed, before stammering an answer out. “I-it’s called belly worship.” Pause. “…and yes.”

“Oh.” Shane scratched the back of his head. “I’m not, like, kinkshaming or anything, it’s good— _valid,_ I mean. I just, uh, didn’t mean to… get you off like that.”

Shane’s gaze was still fixed on Dusker’s hard cock through his clothes. It felt almost voyeuristic. “You’re fine, just…”

Then, Dusker’s gaze trailed down. “…you’re more than fine, actually.”

Shane looked down at his own groin, noticing a similar erection to Dusker’s, slowly growing in size. His face was instantly flooded with red, as he tried to cover it with his hands. “W-wait, I’m—“

“You’re into this, right, Shane?” Dusker’s voice was flat, but his gaze didn’t leave his friend’s erection.

“I’m…” Shane’s shame manifested differently from Dusker’s – while Dusker looked like he wanted to have the earth devour him whole, it was like Shane had a million thoughts rushing through his brain. “N-not the belly thing.” Pause. “Well, _maybe_ the belly thing.”

“What is it, then? Cause you’re real wide awake down there right now.”

Shane fell silent, staring down at the floor and unsure of what to say. “It’s… it’s you.”

“…”

“I… think you’re hot.” Shane cleared his throat, the redness on his face growing. “So seeing you like this and making out the outline of your dick through your shorts is… ahem.”

It took Dusker a few seconds to speak up. “…makes two of us, then.”

“W—huh?”

“Walking around in clothes that smell like you and smelling like your deodorant is driving me insane. I’ve been working and lugging shit around this apartment at half chub, imagining you on top of me and forcing me to smell you more.”

“O-oh…” Shane awkwardly ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, wow! Wow. That’s… wow.”

“I guess we’re on equal ground right now, then, aware that we’re horny for each other. And stuff.”

“Y-yeah! Er…” It took a bit more effort to get the next few words out. “And… and if you’d asked me nicely, I… would have definitely let you sniff me.”

“Mhm.”

“J-just because you’re my friend and you like that sort of thing. Right?”

“You want to keep touching my belly.” Deadpan.

“…”

“You’re my best friend, Shane. I can read through you. I know you want to keep doing it. You didn’t just get behind me and squeeze like that as a joke.”

“…”

Dusker slowly lifted the bottom of his shirt, stopping below his pecs, letting his belly hang out. “Well… go ahead. Might as well, since… we both want it.”

Shane gulped, looking at his friend’s body. It was an open offer, and he should probably accept it. “R-right…”

“Go.”

Shane hesitated for a couple of seconds before slowly stretching his hands forward… and putting them to either side of Dusker’s belly. The other man’s breath hitched in his throat. “Is this good?”

“Y-yeah, keep going…”

Even though he’d technically seen Dusker in worse states of dress, in his alter ego as Shadow Blade, and had been close to fucking him several times as part of his ultimate attack, something about this situation was… different. More intimate, even. He slowly ran his hands up and down the sides of his friend’s belly, feeling the warmth underneath his fingers. It was smooth and hairless. Soft. It softly rose and fell as Dusker breathed.

Dusker’s breathing got heavier, his erection throbbing harder each time. “Y… you mind if I jerk off, Shane?”

“Oh… y-yeah, go ahead.”

Dusker slowly pulled his shorts down, revealing a pair of black boxer briefs underneath. Snug against his thick thighs and taut ass, and even tighter than normal because of the hard erection underneath. He pulled his underwear down next, and his cock flopped out of them harshly, slapping against the bottom of his belly. “Ah…” Much like the rest of Dusker, his cock was a bit shorter than average, yet very girthy. Almost like a beer can, in some regards. “Sorry about the… size.”

“No, no, it’s good!” Shane almost reached out to touch it, but stopped at the last minute. “It looks… good.” Pause. “Thick.” He gulped. “ **Real** thick. Like… like it hurts going in. T-tasty, even…”

Dusker fell silent.

Shane’s hands slowly wandered down as he dropped to his knees, slowly approaching his friend’s hard cock. Dusker’s own hands got away from it, letting Shane do whatever he wanted. His touch was driving him insane – Dusker felt like he was going to bust at any moment if he got any more attention. Shane slowly wrapped his hands around Dusker’s length, needing both of them to surround his length. “It’s… haha, it feels so powerful.”

“It’s not a weapon, dude…”

“It feels like one…” He slowly stroked back and forth, feeling Dusker’s foreskin smoothly slide over his cock. Dusker leaned back, enjoying the sensation, and feeling himself get closer and closer to the edge each time. Shane gave his cock a hard, long squeeze from base to tip, and a bead of precum formed on it. Hesitantly, he stretched his tongue out, and touched the tip with it, feeling the salty flavor spread on it.

“Ah…”

Slightly lost to pleasure, Shane stroked back and forth, getting more and more out each time, catching it all on his tongue. “It’s… tasty…” He liked the feeling. He liked it a lot. His own dick was leaking precum in his underwear. He wanted more—

“Wait, stop!”

In shock, Shane let go of Dusker’s dick – but it was too late. A single spurt of cum erupted from the tip, dripping down on Shane’s tongue. A ruined orgasm. He had been driven over the edge. “Mm…”

“Oh… oh, man, I’m so sorry, dude, I didn’t mean to bust so q—“

“No…” Shane could hardly speak with the cum in his mouth. It was… thick. A big partial load. Sweet. He stood up and looked at his friend, his tongue still out. It was risking dripping down… then he put his tongue back in his mouth and slowly swallowed it, his Adam’s apple rising and falling as the warm load ran down his throat. “No, it’s fine… it was good.”

And, just like that, Dusker was completely hard once more, and ready to go once again. “Um…”

“…lemme handle this.” Shane moved behind Dusker, softly embracing his friend, and leading him backwards into the couch. The redhead dropped and sat on it. “Just sit on my lap…”

“Alright…”

Dusker did as told, straddling his friend’s lap, both facing forward. His cock was still leaking his first load, and it was getting on the cushions. Shane pulled Dusker’s shorts and underwear down more, softly caressing his thighs. Dusker’s dick twitched. “Nn…”

“Do you like that, big boy?”

“Y-yeah…” And… suddenly, he felt small. Pathetic, almost, but it felt so right, too.

Shane’s hands wandered up, to the man’s belly, slowly caressing it. “Do you like it when I rub you here?”

“Yes…”

Shane squeezed the bottom of his tummy. “And what about when I do this?”

Dusker squirmed a little. “Yeah, I like it too… makes me feel big and hefty.”

“That’s good. I like you like that, Dusker.”

Dusker winced. Something about having his friend’s mouth so close to his ear, right behind him, was setting him off wildly. His dick was now at full mast, dripping precum onto the cushions once more.

Shane’s hands wandered up, cupping Dusker’s pecs. “What about here?”

“A-ah…” It felt so warm. “Yeah, I love having my chest touched…”

Shane squeezed. “You like having it squeezed, too?”

Dusker’s back arched. “Yes! Yes, I like it a lot…”

Shane slowly ran circles around Dusker’s nipples with his middle fingers. “And this?”

“It… it makes me weak…”

Shane lifted Dusker’s tank top more and took it off his body completely, putting it to a side, before putting his hands on the man’s chest once more. “They feel great under my hands, too, Dusker…”

“My… my t…”

“Hm?”

“…tits.” He almost felt ashamed saying that out loud. “Please… please call them tits. It gets me off when guys do it.”

“Right.” He kissed the nape of Dusker’s neck. “I like that, Dusker.”

Dusker felt hot, like he was melting in Shane’s hands. Butter on a pan.

“I like you, and I like your tits.” He punctuated the sentence with a squeeze. “They’re so big and supple. So meaty.” Another, harsher squeeze, drawing a moan out of Dusker. “Muscle, and a bit of fat… they’re so perfect.” Dusker was breathing heavily. “I bet they jiggle so much while you’re getting fucked, too.”

“They… they do.” Dusker was fully out of it. “They feel so heavy, swinging up and down, when I bottom… and also when I top…”

“With this?” A hand went down to Dusker’s cock, wrapping around it. “You fuck people with this? It’s so big…”

“Ngh…” Precum dripped onto Shane’s hand.

“Sliding forth and back inside a guy’s ass with this… I bet they scream and moan.” He started stroking Dusker’s dick. “So big.” As he worked, he squeezed his left pec.

“Yeah… they do… they love it…” Dusker was in heaven, feeling his friend’s erection against his ass and getting stroked and groped like that.

Shane picked up the pace. “And you shoot inside them, right? You strike me as a breeding kind of guy.”

“Oh… yeah, I love… to stuff with cum.” He fully leaned back, resting all his weight on his friend. “Fuck…”

“Do you shoot a lot?”

“Yeah… always…” He was getting closer again.

Shane groped Dusker’s pec harder. “Wanna show me?”

“Shane… ngh…”

Shane sped up even more, vigorously stroking Dusker’s length. The large man was left a loudly moaning, drooling mess, feeling the warmth spread from his groin to the rest of his body. With Shane now pinching his nipple and pulling at it, he was reaching an orgasm again. “Shane…”

“Yeah, Dusker?”

“I’m… I’m cumming…” He closed his eyes. He felt it coming.

“Go on, Dusker.” Gently, Shane bit into the side of Dusker’s neck, looking down at the way his pecs and belly jiggled from his vigorous stroking. “I wanna see it very bad…”

“S-Shane!”

With one final arch of his back, he came. Thick, slimy spurts of cum erupted from his fat cock, coating his own chest and belly. One, two, three, more and more bursts came one after the other, his dick twitching with each shot, almost looking like there was no end in sight. Some got on his own face. Some entered his moaning mouth.

Ten. Ten bursts in total, leaving his chest and belly thoroughly coated, as he gasped and breathed heavily, winding himself down from the intensity of the orgasm. “Ah… hah…”

Shane slowly ran his hand up Dusker’s belly, scooping up as much cum as he could fit on it. He was going to bring it to his own mouth to eat it, but Dusker instinctually drew his head to the cum-coated hand when it got close, suckling on a finger… so Shane fed Dusker his own sweet load instead. “Do you like how it tastes?”

“Mmhmm…” He couldn’t speak as Shane wiped his hand on Dusker’s tongue and mouth, smearing his lips with his cum. “Sweet…”

Shane saved some and brought it to his own face, licking it up. Sweet and warm, and plentiful. Virile. A strand of cum connected his own tongue and Dusker’s, as he peeked over his friend’s shoulder. Still riding the high of his afterglow, Dusker looked at the glossy string of semen, and then at his friend’s face. It was like Shane had the same idea, as their faces slowly got closer, tongues stuck out, eyes narrowing, ready to kiss…

…then Dusker’s belly growled. Loudly.

That broke them out of their erotic trance and brought them back to reality – it was lunchtime, and they were both hungry. “Oh… oh, man.” Dusker got up from Shane’s lap. “Sorry, I guess I **am** hungry now, heh.” He chuckled.

“Oh, yeah, no problem, I’m hungry too. I should order something… just go and take another shower, and the food will probably be here when you’re done, Dusker.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Dusker stretched once more, shooting Shane one last glance, before leaving and going to the bathroom.

Shane sat for a few moments on the couch. What had just happened? Him and his friend had just had sex, right? They both liked it, but he never imagined that they’d actually do something like that.

The sound of the running shower broke him out of his thoughts. He got up, washed his hands on the kitchen sink, and then ordered some takeout, with an order of fried dumplings and fried rice. It didn’t take long for lunch to arrive – right after Dusker got done dressing himself.

Even though lunch was delicious, it was a bit awkward. Neither Shane nor Dusker spoke for a bit, as though they were both mentally going over what had just happened. It took until Dusker spoke up for the silence to be broken.

“This is good, by the way.”

“Oh?” Shane looked up from his plate. “Oh, yeah, I told you.”

“Like, real good. I probably should come back here more often. We can hang out and order more of this, because I love it.” Dusker was in the process of stuffing his face with a dumpling when he spoke.

“Oh, yeah, sounds like a good regular plan!” Shane smiled, washing down a mouthful of food with tea.

“Yeah. Hang out.”

Silence.

Dusker spoke once more. “Are we going to address what just happened?”

Shane fell quiet. “I guess we have to, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna be upfront with you… I liked it. I like what happened, I don’t feel uncomfortable with it, and I don’t regret it, alright?”

That caught Shane off guard. “Oh! Oh, that’s good, then. Yeah, I liked it too. I didn’t expect to meet that side of you, either…”

“Neither did I.”

“…huh?”

“It’s usually not like that. But something about sitting on your lap like that and getting all that attention made me feel like I was melting.” He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I dunno, man. I don’t fucking know what’s going on with me today.”

“But you liked it, yeah?”

“Huh? Yeah, of course, I liked it.”

“Isn’t that all that matters, in the end?”

A pause. “You’re right, I guess. We’re both grown men, we know what we want, we know what we like, we know how to get it. I just suppose I have some thinking to do.”

Shane ate a dumpling. “But would you want it to happen again?”

Dusker looked up from his food and stared at Shane. He paused for a few seconds. “Yes. Fuck yes. Is that even a question?”

Shane laughed. “Now _there’s_ the Dusker I know and love!”

“Don’t go falling in love with me, bitch boy.”

“Of course not, sir!” His tone was clearly derisive. “Just gonna fall in love with your belly and tits instead.”

“…don’t go giving me a boner again, either.”

With the tension thoroughly broken, lunch was a lot more comfortable. They had some small talk after that, discussing how they had been doing lately, and generally enjoying the other’s company. Dusker helped Shane do the dishes once they were done eating, and, before long, the sun was starting to set. He picked up his things, still clad in the clothes Shane had given him.

“Hey, so I think I’m done here. Helped you move in, and also, uh, do a few other things.”

“Yep! Thanks for the help, by the way. On both things.”

“Mhm.” He nodded at Shane. “I’ll give you back these clothes later, washed and cleaned. Or maybe I won’t. I like how they fit me, I feel like a whore with this tank top on. You actually wear this kind of thing?”

“Only when working out. Your skin breathes a lot with it, so…”

“There’s so little fabric on this that you might as well not be wearing anything. You might as well take your shirt off at the gym if this is what you have on, slut.”

Shane chuckled. “Maybe I will, one day!”

“Hey, don’t threaten me with a good time.” He shot Shane a smirk. “Aight, see ya later then.”

“See you!” Shane gave him a big grin.

Dusker turned around and went to the door, but his hand stopped a couple of inches away from the doorknob. “Oh, one last thing.”

“Huh?”

Dusker walked back, cupping Shane’s groin through his clothes, and gently pinning him to a wall, their faces mere inches away from each other. “I owe you an orgasm, yeah?”

“Oh… I guess.”

“Don’t forget that, alright?”

Then, he slowly drew closer, planting a gentle kiss on Shane’s lips. Shane didn’t jump – he was almost expecting it. He just enjoyed the sensation. He put a hand behind Dusker’s head, keeping him there a while longer, wet smacking filling the empty space.

After a few seconds, Dusker drew back. “Right, gotta get going. Talk to you later, Shane.”

“I’ll look forward to it, man!”

At last, Dusker opened the door and left. He called the elevator and hit the button to go to the ground floor. It was empty.

With his back to the wall, he let himself drop to the ground, staring at the ceiling, still thinking about what had happened. He’d fucked his best friend. He’d revealed several things about the kind of stuff he was into to him, and let him abuse that knowledge to give him one of the best orgasms he’d had in his life. And then, after having lunch together, he’d groped that same friend and given him a kiss.

Above all else, he wondered; what _were_ they? Were him and Shane still just friends? Heroic colleagues? Maybe something more?

_Lovers…?_

Little did he know, with his back to the wall in his apartment, Shane had also dropped to the ground, looking at the ceiling, asking himself the same questions. Maybe he’d never find that out…

* * *

A man phased into existence in an open wheat field. He began to exist with the body of someone in his thirties, physically fit, with long, slightly wavy black hair with a few grey hairs peppered throughout, with a beard and moustache of the same color, with his whole body with a layer of hair the same color as his scalp’s hair, and naked. He was aware of his surroundings – he had gone there on purpose. For the most part.

He got up from the field, standing in the middle of it, looking around. “Hm.” He could somehow feel that he had arrived to his destination, even though he had no destination from the outset. “This is a new world. I can feel it.” A refined accent escaped his lips. Violet eyes looked off in the distance. “Not a new environment, however. Very similar to my previous one.”

He closed his eyes and listened to the voice inside his head, as he was told what this new world was like. “Hm… a world not yet informed on the full extent of the arts I wield. And yet, a world that uses a similar power regardless. Interesting.” He looked in the distance again, finding a warehouse. “A world about to face a great schism. One that my existence here interrupts. Perhaps I am now indebted to this realm to some capacity.” He crossed his arms. “A world… informed by carnal desires and pleasures as the greatest exponent of power. Pleasures between men, carried out in public, without anyone paying them any mind – only as long as they are heroic in nature. I can adjust to that. I would enjoy it.” His eyes closed again, and opened once more.

“A world… full of great potential and power. Perfect.”

He levitated a few feet off the ground and flew off in a seemingly random direction, certain of his goal. He was going to find a way of harnessing his powers in this new world, and figure out his role in the great schism it was set to face. He would find a change of clothes that wouldn’t make him stand out amongst the normal denizens of the planet – so, probably some kind of thong, harness and cape getup. Discomforting for long periods of time, yet incredibly erotic and hard to ignore. He’d adjust well.

Though nobody else but him knew, he was flying straight in the direction of a young man with darkness in his heart who was sitting in an elevator, going down and contemplating the meaning of his life and relationships.

Neither he, his friend, nor their allies and enemies had any idea what was going to happen to them.


	2. The Phenomenon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kink content: contains descriptions of sweat and musk.

The idle din of weights being lifted, set down and re-racked filled the empty space between Shane and Dusker. Working out at night had its benefits – the gym was usually emptier so there was no waiting time on any of the machines, all the weights were available and organized, and they could more easily mess with each other. _Mess around_ as friends, that is, since neither of them was keen on catching a public indecent exposure charge.

“Ngh…” With one last push, a sitting Shane stretched his arms all the way above his head, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Some of his orange hair stuck to his face, matted with sweat, and there was a big, telltale stain of sweat stretching down from his neck and armpits on his orange tank top. Luckily, his dark green shorts were airy enough that he wasn’t _swamping up_ in the groin area, which was definitely more uncomfortable. He set his weights down on the dumbbell rack and took a swig of his water bottle, looking around.

Off in the distance, Dusker’s larger silhouette squatted and raised, slowly and methodically, holding a barbell behind his shoulders. The man’s gaze was fixated forwards, and it was as though the world outside his mind didn’t exist. The obscene weight of the multiple weight plates on either side of the barbell made the metallic bar curve somewhat, and every muscle in Dusker’s legs tensed up as he pushed it upwards, thighs as thick as tree trunks with veins showing on their surface, and almost every muscle under the skin visibly working – though not all, because Dusker’s natural pudginess hid some of his definition. Great legs and a great ass, though. Still holding the weight, the man stood up straight, holding his position for a couple of seconds, before dropping the weight upon the squat rack behind him. His workout routine was over as well. With earphones in and listening to music, he was unreachable – Shane would have to actually go up to him and tap him on the shoulder to speak to him.

…

Things had been somewhat awkward in the past month for the both of them. Ever since they both lost control in Shane’s new apartment and ended up getting off together, it was as though neither of them really wanted to address the situation. They were definitely still friends, that was for sure, but when they were alone with each other it was as though neither really knew what to say or where to look – neither knew how to properly mask the intense desire he held for the other, and sometimes it broke out. Sometimes a touch lingered a bit too long. Sometimes a playful smack to the butt made one keep his hand there while the other bent forward slightly and began breathing more heavily. Sometimes the other person’s bulge was a bit too obvious in their pants, and the light teasing and poking turned into rubbing through the other person’s pants, until a sticky stain of cum formed.

But neither addressed it beyond getting off. No talking about it, no discussing what they wanted, no kisses, no meaningful affection. And staring at his friend, sweating and with his legs pumped like that, was driving Shane insane.

…

A gentle pat on the shoulder brought Dusker back down to reality. “Hey!”

“Huh?” He popped one earbud off. “Oh, yo.”

“Are you done? Looks like you’re done, unless you’re taking those plates off the barbell to put even heavier ones in there…”

“Yeah, I’m done.” Dusker pulled the plates off. “Not putting any more weight on this thing, fuck that. I already broke a personal record today; I’m not getting any more incapacitated tomorrow.”

“Oh, really? Congrats!”

“Yeah, thanks.” He went to the other side of the barbell, and began taking plates off that side as well. “I’m fucking beat, though.”

“I can imagine… Oh, I was gonna do some jogging to wind down, on the treadmill. Wanna join me? I know you’re trying to lose weight and all…”

That gave Dusker some pause. He looked at the empty treadmills, and then at Shane. “About that… yeah, I don’t wanna lose weight anymore.”

“Huh?” Now that was new.

“Y’know, I never actually _wanted_ to lose weight. I’m real happy with my bulk and with how big I am. I’d just gotten this idea in my head that I had to be this ripped Adonis to really pass as a hero, but, well… I took what you told me to heart.”

“Oh, the… thing I said when you were helping me move in?”

“Yeah, that.” He deliberately avoided mentioning what happened after. “It took me some thinking, but in the end that helped a lot. Thanks, for real.”

“Oh, haha…” Shane bashfully scratched the back of his head, looking off to the side and blushing. “It was nothing, really, just something that came to me in the moment.”

“Well, make sure you have more spontaneous ideas like those, then.” Dusker sat down on the floor and stretched, touching the tips of his feet. For someone with his size, he was really flexible. “You know what I _do_ want, though?”

“Hm?”

“A burger. I just wanna fucking stuff my face with a big burger and smear my face in sauces, y’know? I don’t even know if I’m actually hungry or just craving one, but I could use the protein anyways. I’ll just call it dirty bulking or something.”

“Hehe, you don’t really need a lot of help in the _bulking_ department, either!”

“And you love it, baby.” Dusker winked at Shane.

Shane stretched a hand out to Dusker and helped him up. He was… unexpectedly heavy. No matter how many times Shane had helped Dusker get up, he was still impressed by how much strength his dark-haired friend had in his body, and how much his muscles weighed. It was equal parts surprising and erotic, he had to admit.

Putting his arms behind his head, Dusker stretched to the sides. He turned his head towards his (exposed because of the very low cut black stringer he was wearing) armpits and the bush of dark purple hair on them, sniffing somewhat, and processing it for a few seconds. “…y’know what _else_ I want? A shower. I hadn’t realized it, but I’m real sweaty and sticky and… well, a bit _musky._ ”

Shane smiled mischievously. “Oh, please, sir, allow me a whiff of your most delectable musk, I am craving it intensely…” He could hardly contain his laughter.

“What’s gotten into you, dude? Possessed by the spirit of a horny orbiter thinking of a girl e-celeb’s feet or something like that?” Dusker’s reaction was equal parts bafflement and amusement – not baffled by the action itself, but by the fact that Shane was actually pulling a bit like that in public.

Though, now that he looked around, the place was empty. Very empty. They were the only people left in the gym, and there weren’t even staff members around.

“Please, I require it for survival, and to be able to feed my children.”

“Keep that up and I’m gonna beat you up.” Dusker punctuated his threat with a punch to Shane’s shoulder and a chuckle. He paused for a few seconds and then put his arms back behind his head, regardless. “You know what, go ahead, what the hell. Why not.”

Shane arched his eyebrows. “Oh, alright, don’t mind if I do!” He was truly committed to the bit. He licked his lips—

“Hey, no licking.”

—and put one hand on Dusker’s arm before digging his nose deep in his friend’s armpit. He took a comically large sniff…

…and he remained there. The bit was lasting a bit too long. The smile on Dusker’s face disappeared, and the one on Shane’s face faded as well. He remained there a few seconds, steadily breathing in and out… and then stood back. He brushed a few locks of hair matted on his face away, realizing that his friend’s smell was still smeared on his nose.

Shane cleared his throat. “Wow, er, maybe we took the bit a _tad_ too far, haha…” He chuckled and closed his eyes.

Dusker wasn’t buying it. “You liked it.”

“Wh—“

“You were enjoying being down there.”

“Wait, w-what?” A profound red blush crept up Shane’s face.

“Don’t bullshit me, Shane. I know you. You took a deep sniff, realized you liked it, and didn’t know what to do with that information.”

“…” With his face red and his eyes wide like platters, Shane looked off to the side in embarrassment.

And yet, he couldn’t deny a single word. When he got in there and took a sniff, feeling Dusker’s armpit hair tickle his nose, his friend’s smell penetrated his nose and flipped _some_ switch in him. It wasn’t an intense smell – he had to get right up against the skin to be able to feel it, and it certainly wasn’t unpleasant. It was deep. Manly. Not the smell of someone who hasn’t washed up in days, but the smell of work and physical exertion. Delicious. It triggered something primal in Shane, and a part of his brain that he didn’t know existed screamed at him to lick and lap up the source of the smell, and to grind his whole face against it, just to mark himself and keep the smell on himself longer. The slight swelling in his pants betrayed how he felt, too.

Dusker looked down and noticed it. He took a long, slow breath, sight fixated on his friend’s growing bulge. That made something in his own black sweatpants twitch, fortunately contained by his underwear. To think that he contemplated not wearing any before he arrived.

“…fucking hell, Shane.” Yet, he couldn’t fault his friend. Having someone in there felt good for him too. It tickled, at first, but some part of having a man enjoying his scent like that felt good, in a primal, elemental sort of way. He almost grabbed the back of his head to force him to stay there, just to relish the sensation longer.

Dusker looked around. Nobody around. Suspiciously empty. Almost as though they were destined to be alone at that moment. A perfect situation, as it were.

He lifted up his arms again, looking away. Shane noticed, and he looked at Dusker baffled. “Er…”

“Why do I have to be the franker person out of us both, while also being so horrible with words…?” Dusker sighed. “You… liked it, right? Well, keep doing it. You’ve got permission, or… something.”

Shane didn’t need to be told twice, though he hesitated at first. He went back in, taking another deep breath of his friend’s musk, feeling the stiffness in his pants growing. He put an arm around Dusker’s sweaty torso, embracing him, his chest rubbing against Dusker’s exposed sides, while he sniffed further. He stuck his tongue out, licking up the sweat, feeling its saltiness spread through his tongue, and Dusker recoiled slightly – but he didn’t tell Shane to stop. His erection now made a tent in his shorts, poking against Dusker’s sides. He put a hand down there, pulling his dick out and furiously stroking it, while his breathing sped up, taking in more of the larger man’s musk each time.

“You, uh, you getting off down there?” Dusker was still not looking.

“Mm… mmhmm…” Shane didn’t stop to properly reply. He was too lost in the feeling, enjoying the warmth against his face too much.

Dusker looked down and to the left and, indeed, Shane was furiously jerking his cock. That tuft of hair towards its base – that orange-red hue of hair – was unmistakable. He gulped. It actually looked delicious. Hesitating for a couple of seconds, and with the feeling of Shane’s tongue in his armpits, he put his hand down his sweatpants and slowly stroked his cock – shorter than average but girthy – until he began leaking precum into his underwear.

Shane took a brief respite from Dusker’s armpit, now thoroughly coated in his spit, and looked down. “W-wait…” Hastily, he dropped down to his knees, almost knocking Dusker back in the process. In his shock, Dusker removed his hand. Shane pulled Dusker’s sweatpants down, revealing a twitching bulge, barely contained by a purple jockstrap. The sweat stain on the fabric (and the spreading wetness on the cusp of the bulge) were unmistakable. Shane gulped. He was hungry. Digging in, he began rubbing his face against the twitching bulge, feeling its warmth on his cheeks, and feeling the sweat on it smear on his face. Dusker hardly reacted. He was at a loss, but the situation was too hot for him to really care about it. “W… what’s gotten into you, Shane…?”

Shane looked up at his friend’s face, his own expression twisted into pleading desperation. He wasn’t just hungry; he was absolutely _ravenous_. “I-I don’t know, but… but I _want_ this…” He buried his face into Dusker’s bulge and took a deep sniff, feeling his mouth fill with drool. “Oh… Oh lord…”

Dusker slowly pulled his jockstrap down, his erect dick bouncing up once it was set free. Shane’s gaze never left the head of his friend’s dick, almost cross-eyed, with his mouth gaping open and breathing heavily. A droplet of precum was forming on the tip, and he hungrily lapped it up, looking up at Dusker. It didn’t take him a lot to engulf his dick in his mouth, and even less to deepthroat it – he was basically impaling himself on Dusker’s dick, and no matter how much he gagged whenever it hit the back of his throat, he kept breathing Dusker’s scent in and moaning as he gave the sloppiest blowjob he’d given his whole life. Dusker’s cock was coated in spit before long, but he didn’t care. He simply slipped his hands in through the sides of his stringer, and began playing with his nipples. “Ugh…” His dick twitched wildly. “W-wait a sec!”

Shane didn’t stop. He deepthroated Dusker’s dick one last time, feeling saltiness spreading towards the back of his tongue, as warm pumps of cum made their way directly down his throat and into his stomach. His only regret, at that moment, was that he didn’t pull back and let it spray all over his face and lips. He withdrew, strands of cum and saliva still joining his lips and Dusker’s thick cock, his tongue lolling out of his mouth, and he took a few heavy breaths, still staring at the dick before him. He looked up, to see Dusker’s face completely flushed, his eyes half lidded. He could feel Dusker’s legs trembling. “Lay back…”

Dusker’s mind was too hazed out to question the orders. He sat on the bench behind him and laid back on it. It creaked under his weight. It always did – he was just that bulky and heavy – but that time it creaked harder than normal. Maybe he’d tossed his whole weight on the bench too quickly. He didn’t know.

“Hold your legs up.”

Now that was new. He wasn’t going to protest, but he also wasn’t used to bottoming, and they didn’t have any lube—

“Oh shit!” Every muscle in Dusker’s body recoiled as he felt a tongue assaulting his behind. Shane put his hands directly against Dusker’s thighs, pushing him upwards more, and hungrily lapping away at his friend’s hole. “S-Shane!”

No response. Shane was too hungry and too lost to really stop. He was already giving Dusker a tongue fucking, penetrating his hole with his tongue. “Mmm…”

“I’m real sweaty down there, dude!”

Shane didn’t stop. It was wet and salty, but he liked it like that. It didn’t take a full minute of tonguing his friend before Dusker was erect again, and moaning to boot. Shane stood up, letting Dusker’s legs fall, and he stared at his friend, breathing heavily. Dusker stared back, eyes half lidded, and horny. Needy. His cock, still wet with Shane’s spit, dripped precum onto his belly, and the heaving of his ample chest betrayed deep, heavy breaths. His heart was beating nearly out of his chest. For whatever reason, he wanted to fuck harder than he’d ever wanted to fuck in his life. There were no thoughts in his mind besides sex – besides getting off and shooting a few loads.

Besides stuffing Shane and breeding him. Besides seeing his friend’s face twisted into an expression of raw bliss, and hearing his breath hitch in his throat, small moans escaping his mouth as he felt Dusker’s cock twitch inside his body.

Slowly, Shane took his tank top off and tossed it to a side, revealing his ripped muscles, drenched in sweat. He pulled his shorts down, over the shoes, and tossed them to a side, revealing orange boxer briefs and a massive tent with an unsubtle wet spot upon its tip. He didn’t say anything. He just took a few steps forward, straddling Dusker’s lap, and sat on it, looking down at his friend.

“Shane…”

He pulled Dusker’s stringer up, and ran the bottom behind his neck, exposing his chest and belly. They were both drenched in sweat, giving their bodies a nice, glossy sheen. He gently grabbed Dusker’s wrists and pinned him down to the bench. Dusker didn’t resist. He licked his lips and drew forward, putting his mouth against Dusker’s chest. Looking up at his friend’s face, he started licking and sucking on his nipples, while slowly grinding his hips back and forth, rubbing his cock against Dusker’s.

“Oh… shit…” Dusker threw his head back and bit his lip. He loved the attention. His muscles went limp, and he could only savor the sensations.

Dusker’s pecs tasted salty. The light tufts of hair growing on his chest and belly were matted against his skin. Though he basically radiated heat, Shane loved the feeling. He liked making his friend get off like that. He stopped pinning Dusker down and pulled his underwear down, exposing his cock – longer than Dusker’s, but not as girthy. Grasping both, he continued thrusting, rubbing the sensitive heads together. It felt good. They were slick and slid against each other from all the precum, making wet sounds. With his other hand he harshly groped Dusker’s chest, squeezing his pecs, almost like he was trying to get milk to come out, and he continued sucking. He moaned into Dusker’s pecs, the pace of his thrusting picking up. Dusker started to tense up as well. They were close.

Sitting up and staring down at their throbbing, aching erections, Shane began frantically stroking both of their cocks with his hands, together. In one last thrust, he came, and the feeling of Shane’s dick throbbing against his own threw Dusker over the edge as well. Thick ropes of cum coated his belly and chest, shooting all over his body. It was warm. He was spent. He went limp again, breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling.

He felt the warmth of a tongue against his body – Shane was lapping up both of their loads. His mind still hazy, he pressed his naked torso against Dusker’s, and stared at his face. He still looked like he was pleading – for something, or someone…

Their faces drew together. They couldn’t control themselves. Their lips locked, and cum passed from Shane’s mouth to Dusker’s. He didn’t mind the taste. It was a messy kiss – they licked each other’s lips, bit them, and their making out made wet sounds. Duster spoke up. “Dude…”

“Mm?”

“You… smell and taste like… me…”

Dusker’s hand went behind Shane’s head, pulling him in close for more kissing. The sweat on their bodies was drying, the slight remnants of cum rubbing between them, but with their eyes closed, and making out, they didn’t care. It tasted salty and sweet, but they both thought that since it was the other’s cum, it was the most delicious thing in the world.

…

A few minutes of making out passed, and it was as though it suddenly hit Dusker what they were doing. “…dude, we’re still at the gym.”

Shane sat up slowly, and wiped his mouth against his forearm. “Yeah… you’re right.”

“Get off me, we gotta get dressed and go take a shower before someone sees us.” He looked at his wristwatch. “Shit, how long did we spend doing that? What… _what_ took over us?”

Shane looked down. He couldn’t explain it either – he was just overtaken by this primal urge to have sex, and Dusker just complied. “I guess I just really like the way you smell, haha.”

“That wasn’t just you liking my musk, Shane.” Shane got up and picked up his clothes, putting them on again, suddenly aware of how sticky and smelly he was. He really wanted to shower. Dusker got up, fixing his own clothes as well. “…but maybe I’ll start doing cardio just to let you sniff.”

That took Shane off guard, and he shot Dusker a surprised glance. “Wait, really?”

“Wow, you’re really excited at the idea, huh.” He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess, since you seem to like it so much.”

Shane blushed. Dusker patted his shoulder. “It’s a bit embarrassing to hear it like that…”

“Hey, we all have fetishes, dude. Sniffing and licking a guy’s pits isn’t the weirdest fetish out there.” He awkwardly shifted his arms. “But you really left mine drenched in your spit, huh…”

In that strange moment of intimacy, they just looked at each other for a few seconds. Their lips locked once more, in a gentler kiss, and they could still taste each other on their lips. Shane looked away, blushing again. “Hey, big guy…”

“Yeah?”

No words came to Shane. “Nothing. Let’s just go hit the showers and get that burger, yeah?”

“Oh, shit, yeah. I’m still starving, even after all that.” Dusker laughed – a deep, booming laughter. “Guess we really overexerted ourselves today, huh?”

“A bit. Maybe.” He began walking away, heading towards the showers. “Hey, you brought soap, right?”

* * *

A few meters away, a floor above them, a strange man with long hair stared at his hand. “Fascinating…” Even though he felt his powers had begun shifting since he arrived in that new universe, he hadn’t realized the full extent of them. It turned out to be that he could force anyone to become inconsolably horny, and he’d tested out the power on the pair of men using that gym, while also casting a ward that kept anyone from entering the weight room or noticing any sounds coming from it. Of course, his subjects weren’t chosen coincidentally – he _knew_ he had to pay attention to them, somehow, specially the bigger one, the one whose soul was heavily slanted towards darkness and magic.

He didn’t seem to realize it. This didn’t matter to Adam – _something_ was wrong with that young man, and he knew he had to keep close to him. It was almost like the universe itself was whispering in his ears information about itself, about the important players in its grand plans, and about how to play by its rules. He couldn’t explain why it was happening, but it was happening. The powerful magician didn’t feel _anyone_ was talking to him, specifically, it was just as though reality itself gave him information directly to his brain.

Reality itself also told Adam what kind of clothes he had to get, which was why he was wearing an elaborate set of leather straps, held together with several metallic rings, with a button-up pouch protecting and holding his dick and testicles, and boots that reached up to his knees, all black. Reality had also allowed him to get a cape that reached to his ankles, so he could wrap it around his body to not be completely naked all the time, since he wasn’t used to exposing himself so much, but that just seemed to be a thing people normally did in this universe. Or, well, not _people_ – it was specifically the _men_ that did it. They could really have any kind of build imaginable, but the only constant was that they all had some sort of special power, amplified by technology, and it all tied back to gay sex.

Maybe the universe itself was hedonistic and pornographic. Maybe that was why he now had power over people’s libidos.

“Hey, who’s there!?” A voice broke him out of his internal musings – a security guard approaching him, since he was in the attic of the gym, and was looking into the building through glass panes. He shouldn’t be there. “Freeze! You can’t be here!”

Adam sized the man up. He closed his eyes and pressed two fingers against his right temple, through a gloved hand. Reality gave him information on the man – the security guard was in his early forties, unmarried but beloved in his community, had gotten a job as a security guard two decades ago and it had worked out wonderfully for him. He also went to bathhouses every weekend and let himself be used by several men, and loved it when his moustache was painted with cum. Capital G gay.

Adam opened his eyes and then aimed a hand at the security guard, activating his powers again. Immediately, the guard dropped his tension and tugged at the collar of his shirt, feeling very heated up, while a stiffness grew in his pants. His powers seemed to work on anyone.

“Well, will you not come here, piggy?”

The guard approached. Adam threw his cape open, revealing the elaborate set of straps that he called clothing, emphasizing all his muscles. The guard’s eyes went wide, and he reached forward with trembling hand, to touch Adam’s chest. “Oh, heavens…”

“There is something _far_ more fun for you to play with a bit further down, boy.” Adam unbuttoned his pouch, letting his cock out, and stroked it to a full erection. The guard dropped to his knees and immediately engulfed it in his mouth. Wasting no time, Adam grabbed the sides of his head and began thrusting in and out of his mouth, fucking the warm hole and pumping the man’s brain full of his erotic magic.

Yes, he’d enjoy his stay in that world very much.


	3. The Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kink content: contains male lactation and chest play.

Boredom was an odd feeling to experience if you were someone like Shane. A lifestyle like his – being a college student, but also a superhero in tight spandex and bare skin, fighting villains, investigating his father’s disappearance, and subjugating villains that sought to disturb peace (via anal sex, of course) – logically shouldn’t leave someone with enough time to actually feel _bored_ of all things. And, yet, he was. He’d already moved and settled into his new apartment, there were no new missions, there were no new leads to investigate, and he had no class that day. Nothing.

The young, orange-haired man laid back on his bed, hands behind his head, and stared at the ceiling. He wasn’t used to it. He wasn’t used to actually having time to himself, without people to assist or research to conduct – it was a bizarre feeling, and he didn’t really like it. Though he thought of things that he could do with his free time, none of the ideas was altogether appealing to him. In broad daylight, and merely a couple of hours after having woken up, he didn’t feel like taking a nap either.

Maybe he should take that time to shave his armpits…

Before he could complete that idea, his phone vibrated, beside him. He slammed his hand down on it, a bit too aggressively, and missed the mark, striking the bed next to the phone, causing it to rise a few feet in the air and land square on the middle of his belly. Ow. He grasped at it, more carefully this time, and checked out what notification he’d gotten, hoping it wasn’t just some crappy social media game invite or—

Dusker. Dusker had sent him a message. Excitedly, he opened the conversation.

‘u there’ read the message on the screen. Curt as ever.

‘Haha hi hey buddy pal friendo’, he replied, beating himself up afterwards for how desperate that surely made him look.

‘can we talk a bit’

Oh no. A pit formed in his stomach. Being asked to talk over messages like that never boded well for anyone.

‘nothing serious’

Oh, that was a relief.

‘i think’

Or not.

‘im not sure honestly’

He typed up a response – ‘Sure, what’s up?’

‘actually its best if i just show you i think’

‘gonna get to ur apartment in a bit’

‘b there’

‘its urgent’

That wasn’t a good sign at all. ‘Hey do you wanna call me and talk about it? Im worried now’

‘no i need to _show_ you’

‘just wait 4 me’

And then Dusker went offline. At least now Shane wasn’t going to feel bored – unfortunately, his boredom would be replaced by a sense of utter dread as he waited for his friend to arrive. Fortunately, this waiting wasn’t long, for there was a knocking at his door in less than fifteen minutes. He got up from the bed, and took a step towards the front door, when the door opened and Dusker walked in, holding a key (when had he made a duplicate of Shane’s apartment key?)

This concern didn’t occupy Shane’s mind as Dusker slammed the door behind himself and pressed his back against it. He looked, for lack of a better term, unwell. His face was completely flushed, and his shallow breaths made it look like he could hardly breathe. Shane spoke. “Hey, Dusker, what happ—“

“Sit back down on your bed.”

Shane obeyed. He didn’t know why he obeyed, it just felt right to do so. “Okay, but can you tell me what’s going on?”

Dusker took a deep breath, composing himself. “Okay. Yeah, I’m probably not kicking the bucket, if that’s your worry.” Another deep, labored breath. “But _fuck_ if it feels like I’m gonna die if I don’t do anything about this.” He approached and sat on the other end of the bed, fidgeting and staring off in the distance, his face still red.

Shane got up. “Are you sure you’re alright? Should I call an ambulance?”

“No. Won’t help.”

“A-alright. But should I… at least bring you a glass of water or something?”

“No.” Pause. “Okay, actually, yeah, I’m parched.”

Shane went and got a glass of water from the kitchen, and Dusker basically snatched it out of his hands. In his hold, he slammed the water down, drinking it all basically in one gulp, water dripping down the corners of his mouth and onto his purple sweater.

That drove Shane to another realization. Dusker was wearing a sweater with long sleeves. Not one that was sleeveless, not a tank top, not a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off – sleeves that reached all the way to his wrists. That was abnormal. As of late, Dusker didn’t wear anything that had so much _sleeve._

He pressed a hand against Dusker’s forehead. Though he was red, breathing heavily and thirsty, he didn’t seem to have a fever. That was… a relief. Maybe. Maybe not.

“Dude, I’m fine.” Dusker set the glass down on the nightstand and wiped his mouth with the edges of his sleeves. “Maybe. Just sit down and I’ll explain.”

Shane sat down once more, trying to ignore the nagging sensation that he should take the glass back to the kitchen and wash it then put it away. “Okay.”

“Right. So…” Dusker took a few breaths, but his mind was evidently blank. “…what the hell, I should just show you.”

Dusker kicking off his shoes, getting on the bed and kneeling in front of Shane took him off guard. Even more so the fact that he grabbed the bottom of his sweater and pulled it up, taking it off and tossing it to a side. What completely flabbergasted him was what he saw next – there were band-aids on his nipples, two per nipple, crossing them out. As though that wasn’t enough, Dusker leaned forward next, supporting himself on his strong arms… and it became obvious that his chest was swollen, and it jiggled. He already had an impressive set of pectoral muscles, aided by his girthy, chubby build, but his chest looked even larger right then and there.

“W… what…”

“Right. So, my tits were sore this morning, yeah?” Almost to punctuate what he was saying, he took a hand to his chest, but he stopped it before touching it, grimacing. “Well, uh, turns out they’re real swollen and shit. Actually, lemme…” He sat with his legs crossed on the bed, his belly neatly flopping onto his crotch and his engorged chest flopping onto his belly. “Fuck, I feel fat today. I decided to grope them a bit, cause I do that when I’m getting off anyways, and then I… yeah, lemme just show you that. These band-aids aren’t just for show either.”

Slowly, Dusker pulled them off. At first Shane assumed that it was because he didn’t want to accidentally pull off any of his chest hairs, and his chest had a nice layer of the stuff – neatly trimmed, of course. However, once the band-aids fully came off, it became obvious why he was being so careful; his nipples, normally a gentle pink against his pale skin, were swollen as well, and more red in color. They looked bigger and, though it didn’t make much sense to glean that information just from looking at them, _sensitive_. The areolas were puffy as well, and they almost had a glossy quality to them.

Shane simply stared at them with his mouth agape. And yet, he was drooling a little.

“Yeah. I know, dude.” Dusker kept talking. “I felt the fucking same when I saw them in the mirror. Fuck, feels weird to let the air hit them… Anyways, I had to put band-aids on them before putting a shirt on, because if I didn’t the feeling of the hoodie rubbing against them was going to kill me. They’re sensitive as fuck, too. Got a pair of fucking instant horny knobs right on my fucking tits up in here. More inconvenient than it sounds.” He sounded flustered. “Oh, and that’s not all. Feels appropriate to call them _tits_ cause… just watch.”

Shane gulped.

Dusker put his hands on his chest – one per pec – and, with his fingers surrounding his nipples, slowly and gently squeezed. “Nn…” That was a small moan that escaped his mouth, as droplets of _something milky_ formed on each nipple. He kept squeezing, and soon they began slowly streaming down his nipples, running in thin rivulets on his skin. “Hah…” He gasped and took a deep breath, wiping away the milk running down his belly with his hands.

Now Shane had truly seen it all. He already felt that Dusker had a delicious chest, and he sure loved suckling on it when they got off, but now it was bigger and he’d get milk in his mouth if he tried to suck on it – or at least he hoped that secretion was actually milk, and not something bad. But even then, with his chest bigger and jigglier, it wasn’t as though Dusker had suddenly grown breasts – it was still clearly a man’s chest, strong, muscular, and… plump and soft looking, in the most delightful way. “You’ve… uh…”

“I’ve got tits and they leak milk, dude!” Dusker was clearly affected by it, if the way he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes in frustration was any indication. He gestured wildly. “I sure as hell didn’t have “you’ll get a nice— _nicer_ rack and will produce milk” in the list of things I expected to happen today, but it’s happening anyways!”

“I… I’m sorry, dude.”

And they sat there in silence a few seconds.

“…what do you want me to do about it, though?” Shane scratched the back of his head.

“Well—“ That was actually a good question. Dusker raised a finger as if to gesture while replying, but he slowly put it down, mouth still open. He scratched his own head. “Shit, you know, I don’t know _what_ I want you to do about it. I… just kinda packed everything up and came here when I realized this was happening, but I didn’t think about _what_ I wanted to happen once I got here and spilled the beans. And milk.” Pause. “Shit, that’s a gross mental image.” He thought for a few seconds. He gestured as though he was gonna cross his arms, but stopped himself at the last second, realizing that would mean putting his arms against his chest and pushing up, which would surely drive him crazy. “…well, maybe there’s a thing.”

Shane’s eyes perked up. “Yeah?” Part of him wished the request was to suck the milk out, but he couldn’t properly articulate why.

“Well, when I realized this was happening back home, I, uh… tried squeezing the milk out. Putting it in a bottle. I don’t know why this was an idea I had, I just didn’t know what to do.”

“Yeah…?”

“Well, I failed. I get… _debilitatingly_ horny when I try touching my chest, and the nipples are even worse. I got like one tenth of the bottle full before I had to douse my dick in cold water, and I knocked over the bottle into the sink anyways, so I did nothing, basically.” He looked almost ashamed of how badly that had gone. “Think you can guess what my request is, then.”

“Ride your dick while you’re squeezing the milk out?” Shane leaned forward. He looked almost eager.

“…what? No, you horny idiot! That’d only make it harder to squeeze out and it’d get everywhere!” He rubbed his temples. “I want _you_ to squeeze my chest and… and _milk me_ , I guess. Feels wrong to even say that. I don’t know what I want to achieve, but I feel if I don’t get the milk out somehow, it’s gonna start hurting more, and my chest will swell more, and… I don’t know what happens then.”

Shane got up from the bed, raw resolution and commitment in his eyes, and a raging erection in his pants. “Right! I’ll help you with this!”

“ _Please at least pretend that it’s a plight for you too._ ”

But it was too late. Shane had already run off to the kitchen and fetched a couple of empty plastic bottles, his protein shaker… and a reusable metallic straw. He laid out the implements on the nightstand and unsubtly readjusted the boner in his pants. “Alright!”

“You’re a bit too eager about this, dude.”

“I gotta help my friend!” Shane harshly took his tank top off, almost ripping it, and tossing it to a side.

“You don’t need to be… you know what, whatever.”

An intensely eager Shane and a somewhat nonplussed Dusker sat on the bed, facing each other. Shane grabbed a bottle, uncapped it, and then… simply stared at Dusker’s chest, gulping.

Dusker looked at him. He frowned, in slight concern. “You still there, buddy?”

“Y-yeah! I’m just… thinking of how I’m gonna go about this.”

“Uh huh.” He didn’t buy it for one second. “Just start doing it and I’ll try to resist my urges.”

“Right.”

Gently, he pressed the lip of the bottle against Dusker’s right pec, trying to encapsulate the whole nipple, but part of the areola was left out. Dusker shuddered. Holding the bottle with one hand, he gently squeezed the pec, going from the back and towards the cusp of the nipple, goading some milk out. It squirted into the bottle. “Nn…”

“Should I stop?”

Dusker was gripping his sweatpants harshly, and his eyes were closed, his whole face shut and twisted into an intense frown. Yet, it was obviously not pain that he was experiencing, but intense pleasure. “N-no, keep it up…”

Shane squeezed again, harder this time. A bigger stream of milk came out, shooting to the bottom of the bottle. Shane felt that. He also felt it when it hit the part of the bottle he was gripping. It was warm. He gulped, and squeezed once more, trying his hardest to ignore Dusker’s moans and gasps and focus on his task.

What he couldn’t ignore, however, was Dusker running a hand into the front of his sweatpants, obviously stroking his dick in there. He spoke amid choked gasps. “J-just keep milking!”

He tried to focus on his task, squeezing harder and faster each time, drawing more moans from Dusker. The bottle was already almost full, and he hadn’t realized it… and Dusker’s chest didn’t look any smaller. He pulled the bottle away from the man’s chest, wiping the edge of the nipple on its lip, and capped it, resisting his strong urge to just begin drinking it right then and there. Grabbing the other bottle, he repeated the process with Dusker’s other pec.

Dusker couldn’t take it anymore. He just pulled his pants down and began stroking harder, more openly. “Hope you… don’t mind…” It just felt too good. It was a heaven of pleasure, focused on his chest.

The second bottle was full. Shane capped it and put it back on the nightstand. Now there were two bottles of warm Dusker milk in his room, but Dusker’s chest showed no signs of decreasing in size.

Shane stared at Dusker’s chest, lost in thought. “It’s…”

“It’s not… getting better, huh…?”

He suddenly had an idea. “Lay back on the bed.”

“Huh…” He didn’t really protest, and laid back, his back on the pillow and facing forward. Shane took off Dusker’s sweatpants, leaving him just in some black briefs that were already pulled down exposing his dick. Shane took off his shorts, revealing some orange boxer briefs that were a little too snug on him at the moment, and straddled Dusker’s thighs.

“Okay, so… bottling the stuff isn’t working, yeah? It’s too slow and… I don’t think your chest has shrunk at all.”

“Yeah…”

“…but I’m sure I can suck it out and drink it faster.”

The idea was so preposterous that it even got Dusker to stop jerking off. “W-what? Are you out of your mind?”

“I mean, nothing else is working, and those tiddies aren’t going away otherwise, I feel!”

Dusker groaned and laid back with his arms spread out anyways. “Fine, let’s just try it out, why not.”

The tent on Shane’s boxer briefs throbbed. He kneeled, pulling his underwear down and pressing his stiff, throbbing cock against Dusker’s, who shuddered. Leaning over Dusker’s soft tummy, Shane put his mouth next to one of Dusker’s nipples – just the warm breath was sending shivers down the man’s spine. “Ready?”

“I-I guess…”

First, it was a teasing lick. Shane ran his tongue around Dusker’s areolas in circles, and noticed his nipples *did* feel bigger. Cupping them with his lips, he suckled, milk squirting into his mouth—

The reaction was immediate. Dusker’s back arched, and he let out a loud sound, between a moan and a yell. He covered his mouth next, eyes wide open. That was an _intense_ shot of pleasure that had just run through his whole body, almost orgasmic. His dick throbbed, leaking precum onto his belly.

Shane didn’t mind a lot. He couldn’t. The milk was… sweet. Rich, creamy, warm and sweet. Filling. Thoughts of hunger invaded his mind, and he was almost compelled to suck again, drawing more choked moans from Dusker. And again. And again. He didn’t know what was happening, but his body temperature was rising, and he felt a strong urge to gorge himself on the sweet, rich milk leaking from Dusker’s chest…

“W-wait!” Dusker was harshly gripping the sides of Shane’s mattress, trying to keep himself from crying out in pleasure. “I’m gonna—“

Shane didn’t stop. He didn’t want to and he didn’t think he could – his lips locked around Dusker’s chest, hungrily milking him dry, feeling the warmth of his milk fill his stomach. No thoughts occupied his mind besides drinking more each time. He couldn’t explain why, but he didn’t bother thinking of an explanation, because he didn’t care about anything else.

Dusker’s body trembled as cum dribbled out of his cock, coating his lower belly. His cum mixed with Shane’s precum, both dripping onto his body. He laid back on the bed, exhausted, but Shane didn’t stop, and Dusker could feel pleasure mounting again. Shane switched nipples, this time grabbing Dusker’s other pec and softly pinching it, drawing milk out, dripping down his fingers and Dusker’s chest. He didn’t realize it, but he’d begun slowly bucking his hips back and forth, grinding against the sticky mess, lost to pleasure as well. Out of the two, however, it was only Dusker that was fully conscious of what was happening – but even he couldn’t do anything to stop it, being at the mercy of Shane. He was physically strong enough that he could probably push his friend off if he wanted to, but he was too immersed in the sensations to muster up the strength.

He didn’t actually want it to stop either. He thought as much as a second load dribbled out from his cock, smaller than the first, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head, drool dripping from the corners of his mouth. “Nn… ngh…” It was too much. He felt he was going to break, and Shane was far gone already, if his unfocused gaze and methodical actions were any indication. He wasn’t even drinking milk properly – part of the white, creamy fluid dripped down the sides of his mouth and down his chin, making a big mess.

His lips separated from Dusker’s chest, milk dripping down his own chin and chest, as his hands cupped his friend’s swollen pecs. He squeezed, tongue lolling out of his mouth and dripping spit onto Dusker’s milk- and sweat-coated chest, as his thrusting picked up, his dick making wet, slick noises against Dusker’s own hard cock, lubricated with cum. Milk squirted upwards from Dusker’s chest, at the same time as Shane, with one last thrust, shot a big load, spurts of cum coating Dusker’s belly, chest, and face. Five bursts thoroughly covered him, and the twitching made Dusker drip yet more cum onto his lower belly, the sticky substance dripping down the sides and between his legs.

And then… it was done. Shane’s arms gave way and he collapsed onto Dusker’s soft, wet belly and chest, resting his head against his chest. He was gasping for air, and Dusker was trying to breathe slowly and methodically, certain all the pleasure and exhaustion would make him pass out. They were sore. Their muscles tensed with each jolt of pleasure that ran through their bodies, they were coated in sweat and other substances, and they could have just collapsed and fallen asleep in that position…

Shane forcibly propped himself up with his arms, even though they felt like they were going to give way at any moment, and pushed himself forward, softly pressing his lips against Dusker’s. The latter took a second to realize what Shane was trying to do, but he returned the kiss anyways, gently holding him in his big, strong arms. The weight of Shane on his chest made more milk leak out, softly running down the sides of his torso, but he didn’t care at that moment. He just wanted to savor the intimacy – to bask in the afterglow, as it were. A soft kiss, the gentle smacking of lips and battling of tongues, to put an end to a moment of intense, maddening pleasure.

Then, reality slowly set in, and Dusker became intimately aware of how filthy he felt. “…you’re letting me use your shower, right?”

Shane was busy putting kisses all over Dusker’s neck when the man’s words brought him back to reality. “Shit. Yeah, you can use my shower. You’re… sticky.” A pause, as his hands pressed against his covers, which were now soaked in milk, sweat, and some cum. “And I have to change my blankets too…”

“Hey, this is your fault.” He flicked Shane on the forehead. “It isn’t, actually, but if I don’t say that it means I have some of the blame, so I’m gonna say it.” He chuckled.

Shane laughed, taking a few seconds too long to get off Dusker’s chest. While Dusker was propping himself up, however, he pushed him back down. “Wait.”

“Huh?”

The sticky, white mess towards the bottom of Dusker’s belly remained and would drip down onto the bed more if he just got up. Of course, Shane just wanted to lick up all that cum, too. He got between Dusker’s legs, softly lapping it up – it was a lot of cum, still warm. He moaned lightly while licking, swallowing it bit by bit. Dusker wasn’t complaining, of course. He liked the attention, and he certainly liked the gentle suckling of the tip of his softening cock.

He smirked at Shane as the latter got up and wiped the corners of his mouth. “What?”

“You’re one kinky bastard, you know that.” A big, shit eating grin.

Shane blushed. “W-well, I had to do it or else it was going to spill onto the covers as well!”

“The ones that are going into the washer anyways? And you didn’t grab a paper towel instead?” His grin only grew.

Shane crossed his arms and looked off to the side, huffing and puffing. Dusker got up, gently put a hand on the bottom of Shane’s chin, directing him to look at him directly. A surprisingly gentle touch, for someone normally as rough as Dusker… even if the effect was slightly diminished by the fact that Dusker was a couple of inches shorter than Shane. “But you’re _my_ kinky bastard, you big baby.” He pressed his lips against the blushing Shane’s, softly kissing him. Once he drew back, he licked them. “Good to know both my cum _and_ my tit milk are so creamy and sweet. Perks of fucking me. You’re lucky, Shane.” He gave Shane a smack on the ass and walked off, going towards the bathroom.

Shane was at a loss. His breathing stopped completely as he tried to process what had just happened. Sure, he’d already swallowed several of Dusker’s fluids, and he’d touched just about every inch of his body, but that gentle touch towards his chin somehow felt infinitely more intimate than any of those other things. Almost… romantic. He felt warm inside, in a way he couldn’t really describe, and he didn’t know what it meant.

A voice in the distance broke him out of his meditation. “Yo, are you coming to take a shower with me or do you wanna stay sticky and cold outside for another good twenty minutes?”

“I-I’m going!” He rushed off to the bathroom, hastily kicking his boxer briefs off. No time for thoughts, only warm water.

…

The shower was uneventful. They were both too drained to try and mess around in it, only focused on scrubbing off all the grime they’d covered themselves in. Nothing but a regular couple’s shower – a lot of one person soaping up and rinsing off while the other awkwardly stood off to the side, unprotected by the warm water, enduring the cold, hard reality of being naked and wet. At least Dusker’s chest didn’t hurt anymore, and it didn’t leak milk, plus his nipples seemed to be returning to normal, so that was good. Shane did manage to sneak in a couple of kisses directly from Dusker’s lips, even if one of them almost made them headbutt each other. Shane also managed to enjoy the fact that he didn’t bring any towels to the shower, so he had to run out and fetch a couple, while dripping water all over the place. He handed one to Dusker, wiped himself dry, tried to help wipe Dusker dry, and wrapped his own towel around his waist. He walked out, followed shortly after by Dusker. “Ah, I still have to put the covers in the washing machine, before the stuff leaks into the sheets…” He went off, took them out, and put them in the washing machine.

All the while Dusker stared off in the distance, directly at a window, his gaze unmoving and every muscle in his body tense.

It took Shane a few seconds to realize that Dusker hadn’t done anything since walking out of the bathroom. “…hey, are you alright?”

“I feel… something.” He spoke softly, as though he wasn’t trying to scare away _something_ , or like he was trying to focus. His gaze narrowed. It wasn’t blank – he was clearly staring at a point in the distance, at another building… or perhaps _through_ the building.

This made Shane nervous. “Is everything okay? You’re scaring me, Dusker…”

Dusker remained like that for a few seconds, then dropped his towel and ran towards the room, with Shane hastily following in his steps and nearly tripping. Dusker fetched something from the pocket of his pants (that Shane was impressed he didn’t notice there while taking them off); the grip of his energy sword. With a motion in the air, and in a flash of purple and black light, his armor manifested on his body – boots, arm braces, shoulder pads, helmet, and arrangement of spandex that tried (and failed) to contain his junk and ran over his body. What he fought in.

This gave Shane pause. “Wait, what the hell happened, Dusker!?”

“I feel _something_ in the distance and I know where it is. I want answers. Follow me or don’t.” He sprinted to the other side of the house, opening the sliding window that led to the balcony… and leapt out. Shane followed, his towel slipping off, and he braced the balcony, staring down. It felt like time was stopped – Dusker slowly falling towards the pavement, falling several stories, face-first, with his arms stretched out to the sides… until he activated the mechanism in his boots, blue flame erupting from them. With all the gained momentum, he narrowly avoided the ground, and soared into the air, flying off in the distance, with his dark blade held towards his side – larger than usual, the sharpened edge of energy as big as a two-handed sword’s.

Shane ran back into his room and opened a drawer, tossing things to a side, before finding his own grip. He put his armor on in a flash just as Dusker had done it, climbed on his balcony, and leapt off, flying after him, yellow flame coming from his own boots. He realized he’d never actually started the washing machine, but there were more pressing concerns at that moment. “Dusker! What’s going on!?”

“You didn’t _have_ to follow me!” They had to yell to be able to hear each other, at the speed they were flying.

“I’m coming anyways!” With that, and in a burst of energy, Shane boosted himself forward a few feet, flying right next to Dusker. He activated his own sword and held it at the ready, even if he didn’t know _what_ it was that Dusker (and now him, too) was going to confront. Ride or die.

This warmed Dusker’s heart somewhat, but he couldn’t properly verbalize why.

* * *

In the distance, on top of an abandoned factory, a strange man stared off into the mountains. His arms crossed over his leather strap-clad chest, and his cape was draped over his entire torso, locks of black hair with a few grey hairs here and there falling over his shoulders. Adam’s violet eyes were looking at the city, but not quite, as his senses were focused somewhere else.

He had been caught. He couldn’t explain how, but he detected his two subjects of interest heading for his direction, one unmistakably angrier than the other. Things were about to get very interesting. He turned around, facing the two shining dots rapidly approaching his location – one purple and blue, one orange and yellow.

He didn’t change his neutral expression at all. Though the situation was amusing, it was probably in his best interests not to provoke any violent response whatsoever.

The purple and blue man turned off the flame erupting from his boots and did a flip in the air, landing into a crouching position with such force that the cement of the roof cracked, and bits of it flew up in the air. His sword looked threatening, and he held it above his head, pointed towards Adam. Though Adam couldn’t see his eyes, his clenched, bared teeth painted a very clear picture – he was pissed. Absolutely enraged out of his mind. The orange and yellow man landed with more finesse, sword drawn, but his resolve faltered and was replaced with confusion when he laid eyes on Adam, and back on his angry friend.

Something that fascinated Adam was that he recognized Dusker’s stance, and the way he was approaching. He had, in his own world, seen warriors that fought like that. However, that brand of warrior did not exist in the universe he was currently in. He could not explain why Dusker knew such a stance or fighting style – why that was knowledge he suddenly had.

A hand emerged from Adam’s cloak and went to his temple, as he closed his eyes and turned his head to his side. Yet, the universe didn’t give him any new information at that moment. Interesting. “Hm…”

He didn’t have time to be trapped in his thoughts, and Dusker was going to make sure he knew that. “Who the absolute **fuck** are you?!” He barked the first thought in his head, half a question, half a threat, as the grip on his sword tightened.

Shane took a couple of steps forward, stretching a hand towards Dusker, unsure of what was happening – confused and somewhat afraid.

New information appeared in Adam’s head. “I believe you already have the answer to that question, Shadow Blade.” More. “ _Dusker_ , I should say.”

Dusker gasped. “H-how do you know that?!”

Shane jogged a few steps, putting a hand on Dusker’s shoulder, “Hey, Dusker, who is this? What’s going on?”

More information. “Your friend figured out the cause of his recent woes, Shining sword.” And more. “ _Shane_. An appropriate name, I would say.”

Shane was taken aback as well, and the grip on his sword tightened. He didn’t know why, but the man before them parsed as a threat. “What—what are you doing? How do you know that? Are you reading our minds…?”

“Nothing quite as simple and banal as that, I’m afraid. Though I know many things about this universe, none of them I’ve learned via something quite as pedestrian as _reading minds_.”

Dusker was losing his patience. “Enough of this! Explain what you’re doing to me! Explain why I can tell it’s you!”

No part of Dusker’s demeanor changed Adam’s disposition. He kept simply looking at the pair, a neutral and almost bored expression on his face. “Running a few tests. Nothing that should concern you terribly – nothing that will harm you or impair your ability to carry out justice. Though I understand why my experiments bother you so much – if my abilities suddenly began changing, and if I could not explain any of my new powers or sensations, I would be terribly cross as well.” A hand emerged from under his cloak, and he scratched his chin. “I cannot, however, explain why you know I was the one that was affecting your powers. I cannot explain how you found me, either. Most fascinating, that.”

Shane could feel every muscle on Dusker’s body tense up. He was getting angrier. He had to try and get more information, though. “What’s your name? Where are you from? What can you do?”

“A more composed response, I see. Satisfactory.” Adam hid his hand in his cape once more, clearing his throat. “My name is Adam. I do not have a heroic or villainous pseudonym, like you two and several people in this world seem to.” He clasped his chin in thought, as though he was pondering his next response. “I am not from this world. That is all the information I can give you, I’m afraid, without confusing you further. Just know that your world is as alien to me as I am to you, if the fact gives you any level of comfort.” Another pause. “In my home world, I am known to be a powerful magician. A wizard, a sorcerer, a warlock – whichever term you find the most comfortable. I know a great deal about creation, about recovery and healing, and also about complete destruction. People in my home world feared the idea of confronting me for any reason. My power only grew in time, and soon I found the ability to traverse worlds, leaving mine and going to many others. It was as though the environment in each world I visited increased my powers further, and being in your world has increased them as well.”

A cold droplet of sweat dripped down Shane’s back. “Like… like what?”

“Nothing that can be used to harm people or heal them, for some reason. Powers I would have normally dismissed as completely banal – inducing incontrollable sexual arousal on other people, reversing the effect, inducing lactation on anyone, infusing the milk with the properties of my powers, infusing _any_ of the person’s bodily fluids with the properties of my powers, reversing the effect… I believe you see the pattern here.” He spoke of his powers very matter-of-factly.

Every word was like a knife against Shane and Dusker’s neck. That described what had been happening to them perfectly well – the overbearing horniness they’d felt at the gym, why nobody had seen or heard them, the swelling of Dusker’s chest and the milk that leaked from it, how Shane lost himself when drinking it… it all clicked at that moment. Though Shane was unnerved, Dusker was furious. The angrier man was the one to speak. “So… you just experimented on us?”

Adam arched an eyebrow. “Yes, that is what I quite literally just said. I tested out the properties of my newfound powers on you and observed the results. They were most satisfactory.”

Dusker boosted himself forward, slashing vertically downwards, intending to cut the man in half… who simply sidestepped the attack in a split second. He sounded unimpressed. “Careful with that thing, you might cut someone.”

Shane boosted forward as well, slashing horizontally, and Adam merely crouched out of the way of the attack and slid a few feet away. “That goes for you, as well. Good on you for acting so quickly after your friend’s sudden outburst, however. Good teamwork.”

Both Shane and Dusker kept rushing forward, slashing at the man and trying to punch and kick him, but none of their blows connected – Adam was simply too agile, and always got out of the way in time, sidestepping, crouching and sliding across the ground, even leaping into the air… and not once showing what was under the cloak. They chased him over the roof of the factory, and, after a while, Adam bumped his back against a wall. His eyebrows arched. Both Shane and Dusker charged attacks, and slashed down at him at the same time—

“I have had enough of this.” A hand shot out from beneath the cape, stopping both of the swords in midair. A field of energy, in the shape of the face of a compass, spun rapidly around Adam’s whole body, and when it reached a terminal speed, it burst outwards, knocking both Shane and Dusker back several feet. They rolled back, hitting the ground in several places and sliding to a halt. They also didn’t realize that the man deliberately led them to attack him with his back against a wall – he knew the recoil of that spell would send him flying backwards, and he couldn’t afford to take the fight off the rooftop of that building. He could fight in the air, and so could Shane and Dusker, but what he wanted to do couldn’t be done there.

When Shane and Dusker got up and looked at Adam, they realized he was floating in midair, a few feet above the ground. They held their swords at the ready. The man stretched his arms out up and to the sides, and his cape flew backwards, blown by invisible wind, revealing the elaborate getup of leather straps, a pouch, and boots underneath. Similar to their armor, but crucially different at the same time.

And then, the man harshly swung his arms downwards, and Shane and Dusker’s limbs slammed against their bodies and they were forced down on their knees, dropping their swords. Without an energy conduit, both of their swords deactivated, leaving only the inert grips. They couldn’t move. They could hardly blink, talk, or breathe. They were completely bound, no matter how much they struggled – their arms refused to move.

Adam slowly floated down to the floor. “There are a couple of things you have to know.” He walked forward slowly, still channeling magic into the spell he used to bind both of the heroes. “Firstly, you are _far_ out of your depth if you intend to confront me. You do not possess the power – you do not even possess the _capacity_ to obtain the power – necessary to so much as dent my defenses. The humans in your world are not built like that. So, do not try to harm me, because it will always, _inevitably_ , end poorly for you.” He stood behind Shane and Dusker, and continued speaking. “Secondly… I am not your enemy.”

That gave Shane and Dusker pause, and they stopped struggling.

“Yes, you heard me right. I am not your enemy, because I am simply a wanderer. Wandering into a new world causes that world to whisper information into my brain – I instinctively know several facts about the world, and I can tap into a wellspring of knowledge about that world to obtain more information, whenever I wish. This is why I know what this world is made for, and who you two are.”

Dusker was the first one to speak, through shallow breaths. “And… what would… that be…?”

“Your world is one informed by pleasure. Carnal desire rules every aspect about this universe, and it is written into the very fabric of its existence. You do not realize it, but to an outsider, it is overbearing.” He stopped the spell binding Shane and Dusker down, and they crashed down, gasping for air. “The amount of casual sex that occurs in your world – all the utility closets, all the public bathrooms, all the hidden nooks and crannies, all the bedrooms being used for it – is completely abnormal when compared to other worlds. And, what’s more, all the sex is between men. What you two do as part of your hero job is absolutely abnormal, too. Have you ever stopped to think about _why_ all the villains you have confronted and subjugated have been men as attractive as you? No, why _all_ the men you seem to meet are attractive, have some degree of physical fitness, and absolutely no inhibitions nor qualms about having sex with you?”

Neither Shane nor Dusker said anything, but the thought obviously gave them pause.

“That which I just described is only normal in this universe. There are no actively _unattractive_ men here. Everyone is pretty, or handsome, and has some degree of physical fitness. And they are all, culturally, for whatever reason, down to have sex with each other under pretty much any circumstance. Of course, I didn’t expect you to have ever questioned this status quo. You did not have to.” He looked off into the distance. “And, since each universe I traverse affects and increases my power, this universe gave me powers related to erotism of a gay male flavor. I cannot complain.” He chuckled to himself.

Shane finished gasping for air and spoke up next. “But… why us?”

“Ah, I almost forgot that detail. Part of the information that each universe bestows upon me is who the key players in it are. You two are key players of this world. Your actions in the days to come will shape the trajectory of this universe moving forward, and how events in it will unfold. You are not the only key players, but you are the only ones I can reach right now.” He walked over to Dusker. “Specially you, Dusker. There is... _something_ about your presence and fate that the universe considers to be absolutely fundamental. There is also something about your powers that predisposes you to be affected by my powers. I find that interesting, but I cannot explain how or why it is happening.”

Shane gasped, and Dusker remained silent, staring at the ground.

“Of course, I understand that this is a lot of information, so I think it is for the best if I leave you alone for now. As of right now, I am but an observer. The universe has not yet decided what my role in its grand scheme is to be, and as such, I will refuse to take any actions until I get a directive. This means I will not harm either of you, but I will keep observing you, and I may test more of my powers on you.” Adam walked forward, and a portal opened in space – a gaping hole torn into the fabric of space-time itself, filled with complete darkness. “I shall leave you for now, then.”

“Wait!” Dusker staggered forward. “If… if you’re truly not a threat to us, there’s something you need to do.”

Adam stopped and turned around. Shane tensed up. “You are in absolutely no position to make demands, but continue.”

Dusker remained silent for a few seconds, pondering his next words carefully. Finally, he spoke, with supreme resolution.

“D-do the milk thing again. With the horny powers and all. We liked it.”

Silence.

Shane turned his head down and muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like a curse.

Adam…

…began laughing. A hearty, full laugh. “Oh, is that it? Why, of course.” He stretched out his hand—

“Wait, not right now!”

“Oh, of course.” Adam was still chuckling to himself as his arm descended once more. His eyes narrowed and he walked towards Dusker, but a smile remained on his face. “What’s more… what would you say if I took you under my wing, and taught you a thing or two about magic? I think you have the constitution and ability to learn from me.”

Dusker’s eyes lit up, as Shane’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “Yes! I mean, uh… yeah, sure.”

“Very well, then. You know how to find me, don’t you? Come looking for me when you wish to learn more.” With that, Adam waved at them as he walked away, disappearing into the tear in space, that vanished once he passed through it. Indeed, Dusker could feel that Adam’s position had changed… and he wasn’t far from there. He had no reason to give chase, however.

Shane stood up and punched him on the shoulder. “What is _wrong_ with you?”

“Ow!” Dusker rubbed his shoulder, still reeling over the interaction he’d just had.

“You’re just asking this… this weirdo to teach you magic? How do we know that we can trust him?”

“I dunno, man… I felt that he was being honest. I could just tell, but I’m not sure how.”

Shane sighed. “The worst part is that you got some free magic tutoring sessions and didn’t think of asking the same for me, honestly…”

“Shit. You’re right. I’ll ask him when I find him again.”

They chatted idly some more as they flew back to Shane’s apartment, sword grips in hand. Out of their suits, they realized they were completely naked, and Shane lent Dusker a jockstrap so he could get dressed. It was a bit snug. Shane liked the sight.

A few hours passed, and Dusker left, going back to his own house. That was an afternoon well spent for Shane. He looked at the bottles of Dusker milk on his nightstand. Sitting down, he opened one, and sniffed it… and felt his dick getting harder.

He put the cap back on it, and took the two bottles to the fridge. Maybe he’d break them out the next time Dusker visited, and he’d have them drink a bottle each. Maybe he’d ask to drink straight from the tap instead. Who knew.


	4. The Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kink content: contains a pecjob.

Morning. Rays of sunlight gently poured in between the blinds, left half open. The sun didn’t stab Shane in the eyes – it was gentle, golden rays of light kissing his bare skin, the messy bedsheets around his waist, him splayed out on the king sized bed. A perfect picture of bliss and relaxation. He slowly opened his eyes, rubbed them, and a hand went to his right, to the other side of the bed. Empty, but still warm. He’d probably already left.

A nagging sensation at the back of his brain told him something was off. He didn’t have blinds on his apartment room, he didn’t have a king sized bed, his room wasn’t that big, and sunlight didn’t come in that color.

“Morning.” A voice coming at him from the right snapped him out of those thoughts, as he was brought back to his current reality. A man with medium length dark purple hair, locks of it tucked behind his ears, a goatee connecting with his moustache in the same hue. Somewhat rough in the eye department, but he did his best to twist his face into a kind, warm expression as he approached, food tray in his hands, wearing nothing but an apron around his waist.

Dusker.

He’d remained rotund. A fine layer of hair covered his ample chest and his soft, well-shaped belly, along with his forearms, thighs, and, though they weren’t in view, Shane knew it also covered his groin and ass. Lovely, no matter how you sliced it.

Shane scratched the scruff around his chin, swiping some orange hair away from his face as he sat up. He was suddenly assaulted by the scent of food – a filling breakfast, and surely what Dusker was bringing to the bed on that tray. He idly braided part of his hair back, to keep it out of his face, and stared with lazy eyes and a dopey smile as the tray was set in front of him. Scrambled eggs, a couple strips of bacon, some fresh bread, a cup of coffee, and a tall glass of orange juice. The usual.

The usual tasted amazing when it was Dusker cooking it.

Finally, he mustered up the strength to speak. “Mornin’…” He yawned. Dusker simply stared at his face, a gentle smile on his lips. “Didn’t you bring some for yourself too?”

“No, I had breakfast already, while you slept.” He chuckled and crossed his arms. “Sleepyhead.” He’d mellowed out over the years, that was for sure. Even if his speech was a bit rough and aggressive around the edges, he was a lot nicer overall.

“Aw, you’re the one that let me sleep in. This is your fault, if anything.” He grabbed the glass of orange juice and took a long sip, letting the zesty, fruity flavor spread on his tongue.

As he swallowed, Dusker walked over to him. “Well, now that you’ve washed down your morning breath…” A hand went to his chin, guiding his face upwards, and his lips locked with Dusker’s, in a gentle, slow kiss. “Morning. Might as well greet you properly now.” He smiled.

Shane blushed. “Yeah, you definitely had breakfast. I can still taste the bacon on your lips.”

That got a chuckle out of Dusker. Shane kept diligently eating. He _was_ pretty hungry.

It didn’t take long for him to finish, and he set the tray down on the side of the bed, as Dusker sat next to him. A hand went over his, softly cupping his fingers. Large. His hands were still bigger. The bigger man spoke. “No plans for today, right?”

“Hm… nope. Don’t really know what to do today.”

“I’ve got an idea.” He untied the apron around his waist and tossed it to a side, revealing he was naked underneath (of course), before a smile crept up his mouth and some laughter erupted from the back of his throat.

He turned to Shane, basically lunging at him, locking lips with him once again. Soft. Gentle. In his motions, he went to straddle Shane’s lap, wrapping both of their bodies in the bedsheets. His hands wandered Shane’s body – he’d gotten broader too. Maybe a bit soft at the bottom of the belly as well. Yet, as Dusker’s hands caressed him, it was like he was touching a fine work of art. Even if his hands were big and somewhat callused, he had such an impressively gentle touch. Shane liked that. He shifted a bit, putting his hands behind his head, letting Dusker scan his body more carefully, and the larger man smirked. “No resistance?”

“Why would I resist?” He put his hands on Dusker’s body. The framing of the bedsheet really emphasized all his curves, in the best way possible. Though he was pudgy, his body distributed fat very evenly – a handsome wide face, girthy arms, a plump chest, thick thighs, some great love handles, and of course, a soft belly that Shane loved sleeping on, that now flopped against his comparatively lean midsection. His muscles had only gotten bigger with the years as well. A mountain of muscle and fat, a perfect intersection of power and soft comfort.

Shane had a realization, and turned to the nightstand, opening the drawer. “Oh… oh, no.” The contents had shifted inside, slightly bruising what he wanted to pull out – a pair of violets. Some of the petals on the flowers were now bent. He looked disappointed. “This was for you… I’m sorry.”

Dusker arched an eyebrow and gently grabbed the flowers from Shane’s hands, fixing up the petals. He scoffed, a smile forming on the corners of his lips. “For me?” He looked at the flowers for a bit. “I guess you never stopped being into flowers, huh.”

“Yeah. I found these the other day, preserved them, and wanted to give them to you.”

Dusker chuckled. “I’ve never been one for these sorts of gentle things… but I think you’re giving me a taste for them.” He tucked one of the flowers into his hair, a few locks falling out of place. “How do I look?”

The flowers looked nice against Dusker’s hair color and pale skin. “You look great, dear.”

Dusker grinned, gently tickling Shane’s nose with the other flower. “Of course I do. You picked them out for me, after all.” He drew forward and gave Shane a gentle kiss. Sitting back up, he slowly ran a finger down Shane’s chest, his gaze trailing downwards, towards…

“Oh, one last thing.” The ring on Dusker’s left hand caught the sun’s rays, golden like them, the glint reminding Shane that he was wearing one like that as well. The thought made him feel warm.

“Yeah?” His hand went to Dusker’s face, gently caressing his cheek. Dusker returned a warm gaze, kissing the palm of Shane’s hand.

Then, the hand holding the other flower dropped it on Shane’s chest. Then, the whole arm went limp, flopping down onto Shane’s belly. All expression and color drained from Dusker’s face, as he stared straight into Shane’s face, no emotion or humanity left on it.

“You have to wake up, Shane.”

“What?” The change was frightening him. What was happening?”

**“You have to wake up, Shane.”**

…

Shane woke up with a start, sitting up so quickly that he knocked his usual bed covers off his body. The usual curtains were open, leaking usual white sunlight into his room and a few feet off from his bed. The usual. A hand almost instinctively went to the side, tapping absolutely nothing but air on the side of his regular, one person sized bed. In the corner of the room, his computer turned on, an alarm displaying on the screen with some sound playing from the speakers. Someone needed Shining Sword.

He stared bleakly at the alarm for a few seconds. He shut his eyes, burying his face into his hands. The deep breath he took gave way to a sob – a singular sob. He couldn’t afford to cry more than a single tear at that moment, because he had work to do.

He got up, checked the alarm on the computer, dismissed it, put his armor on, and flew out a window, off to fulfill his duty as a hero. No use thinking about anything else.

* * *

It made sense for Dusker to not pick up his phone when Shane sent him a message, since he was still training with Adam. It was still annoying. It wasn’t like Shane wanted Dusker’s exclusive attention, but it’d be nice if he could get an answer to his messages in a timely manner for once.

He examined the new scratch on his helmet and let out a groan of frustration. Maybe he _did_ on some level want Dusker’s exclusive attention.

Since Shane didn’t have an affinity for Adam’s brand of magic anywhere near as strong as Dusker’s, Shane’s training hadn’t lasted anywhere near as long. Just some new sword techniques, and a few simple spells. A “spellblade”, Adam had called what Shane fought like, but Shane had no idea what that could possibly mean. Didn’t mean a whole lot if Dusker got to fight with a bigger sword _and_ stronger spells, he felt, but he wasn’t going to complain to the inscrutably powerful being that could turn on them at any moment. It was still frustrating, though.

A familiar hum rang in front of him, and out of a gape in space, came Dusker and Adam. Adam retained his usual stern, unamused expression, while Dusker looked positively giddy – or as giddy as someone with his general demeanor could be. Adam spoke up. “Dusker here has something to show you, Shane.”

Shane stood up, putting his helmet to a side. “Yeah?” He tried to mask his frustration as well as he could. There was no way he was hiding such a thing from someone like Adam, but it seemed to work on Dusker.

Dusker shot him a toothy grin. “I learned some new spells.”

Shane arched an eyebrow. “Yeah?” He sounded tired – less like he was exasperated and more like he was actually, physically exhausted. He was, so it made sense.

“Right, first off, uh…” Dressed in his usual combat suit sans helmet, Dusker adopted a position with his hands aimed forward and his feet apart, almost like a martial arts fighting stance. He rapidly swung his arms to the sides, and then down—

Shane’s limbs locked against his body and he was forced down on his knees, in the same spell Adam had used on them the other day. He groaned as he fell.

Dusker stopped the spell, eyes as wide as platters. “Fuck, fuck, wrong spell.” He ran forward, helping Shane up.

“Well… do you have anything a bit less, I dunno, _violent?_ ” Shane gave Dusker a weak smile. It was equal parts a gentle suggestion and a desperate plea, because he really didn’t want to deal with that at that moment.

“Shit, uh, yeah, there’s this…” He stretched a hand forward, towards Shane’s head. Shane felt some sort of tingling sensation at the back of his skull, though it was weak.

And then, nothing happened. Dusker kept the position, and nothing besides that vague tingling sensation happened. “…I forgot all the other moves and incantations for this spell.”

A few feet behind them, Adam pinched the bridge of his nose, but also let out a chuckle. “Perhaps I taught you far too many things for a single session. Maybe the knowledge is escaping you even as we speak.”

Shane was almost disappointed at that outcome. Almost. Not enough to want to find out what Dusker intended to do.

Dusker turned around harshly towards Adam, but he forgot to stop channeling the spell, so Shane was yanked forward a bit, like a cat grabbed by the scruff. Maybe that’s what the spell was about. Luckily he was able to find his footing. “No, wait, I haven’t forgotten everything, I swear!”

Adam regarded Dusker with an arched eyebrow, a smile creeping up the sides of his lips, as his eyes shot towards Shane as well.

Dusker turned back around to Shane, sending him flying back again. “Aight, dude, I’m gonna—wait, fuck, sorry.” He cancelled the spell, and Shane could move his head around freely again. “Okay, so, a thing Adam taught me is that it’s a fuckload more difficult to do spells on _other_ people, yeah?”

Shane muttered under his breath. “ _Fuckload…_ ” What an interesting way of putting it.

“But it’s a lot easier on oneself, right? So, for example…” He got into a stance again, aiming his hands towards Shane. He did a few dramatic movements, and when he finished, he stared at Shane a few seconds. “See? It’s very weak on you!”

Shane looked down and gave himself a once-over, trying to figure out what Dusker was even trying to do to him. “…yeah.”

“Does… your chest feel different at all…?”

Shane’s hands went towards his chest and he poked around a bit, feeling nothing out of the ordinary. “A… bit.” He didn’t want to completely destroy Dusker’s ego.

Dusker saw right through it. “Ugh, it really did nothing…?” He clicked his tongue in frustration. “Well, anyways, I’m gonna do the same spell on myself, and you’ll see what…” He did vaguely the same motion on his own body, aimed at nothing in particular.

Indeed, a change actually happened, which surprised Shane somewhat. Dusker’s pecs grew, his bust easily increasing a few inches in circumference, and his nipples got larger as well. Not entirely unlike when he had milk leaking from his chest, but there wasn’t any obvious sign it was happening around that point in time. Though his pecs were already impressive, they looked even more imposing at that moment.

Shane’s dick throbbed a little.

“See? I can do magic! And it’s a lot easier on yourself!” He grabbed his own chest. “And they feel real too!”

“Yeah… yeah, I see that.” Shane was a bit distracted looking at Dusker play with his own chest.

This continued for a few seconds. Then, Dusker turned to Adam slowly. “Hey… how do I revert the spell, now? You only taught me how to cast it, but it doesn’t go away on its own, right…?”

Adam covered his mouth to try and hide the smile creeping up his lips. “There _is_ a counter-enchantment. You will need it to revert the effect as well, considering _how_ you cast that spell.”

“Oh, okay, thankful for that.” A pause. “Well, what is it?”

Adam looked down at Dusker’s pecs and how absolutely juicy they looked at that moment. Something in his groin stirred, fortunately hidden by his leather cup. “I’m not telling you.”

Dusker stared at Adam for a few seconds. “What!?”

“I mean, why would I want to revert the enchantment? I am quite enjoying the view.” Behind Dusker, Shane had to agree.

“Wait, wh—you can’t just leave me like this!”

“Hm… actually, yes, I can.” He crossed his arms, looking at Dusker expectantly, looking forward to how he’d react.

He was immediately defeated. “Fuck, so do I just have a great rack for the rest of my life? My shirts are gonna be tighter now, and they’re already pretty tight…”

Shane muttered something under his breath. “…like that’s a bad thing…”

Adam chuckled, having heard what Shane said (even if Dusker didn’t seem to catch it), causing Shane to blush. After staring at the light jiggling of Dusker’s chest while he spoke for a few more seconds, he decided to have mercy on the poor boy. “Alright, I will revert the spell.”

“Oh, fuck y—“

“On one condition.”

Dusker seemed to deflate again.

“I haven’t even said what the condition is yet, Dusker. Save your abject excitement for later.” He looked down at Dusker’s chest, then at Shane. Shane was almost scared of what Adam might ask for.

“So, what’s…”

“Your pecs are now big enough to wrap around your friend’s cock. Give him a pecjob.”

That was a great relief on Shane – and also an incredibly enticing idea. Dusker was slightly confused. “Like…” He put his hands against the sides of his chest, pushing slightly towards the center, and bobbing his torso up and down slightly.

“Yes.”

“Well… I’ve done weirder things, I guess. But is Shane alright with this?”

Adam looked over at Shane’s groin. “He seems more than ready from here.”

Shane (futilely) tried to hide his erect dick, but his pure spandex suit was doing nothing to hide him. Dusker blushed a little. “Nice.”

“And I have to watch.”

Dusker froze. “All of it?”

“Well, yes. How else am I supposed to judge whether you actually did it or not?”

Dusker looked away. “Can’t you like… use your powers to make the universe tell you if we fucked or something?”

A pause. “Yes. But it is more fun like this.” He rubbed the front of his groin, against the leather pouch. “Besides, I would enjoy the spectacle. Why do you suddenly have stage fright, Dusker? Don’t you fuck men in broad daylight to subdue them, like Shane does, not caring who sees?”

He really had no counterargument to that. “Yeah, but… it’s different if it’s just one dude and he’s watching from a couple of feet away.”

“Well, I simply do not care. And a _couple_ of feet is very generous for the distance I will be watching from.” He clapped his hands together. “Get to it, boys.”

Dusker sighed. He turned around to face Shane. “Well, guess I gotta do it.” Shane was blushing and not looking away from Dusker’s chest. “Is… this something you’re into?”

Shane kept quiet a couple of seconds before the question registered in his mind, almost breaking him out of a trance when it hit. “What? Oh, not really. Maybe.” He swallowed. “A bit.”

“One day I’m gonna look at your porn search history.”

Without much further ado, Dusker got on his knees, getting in position. For a mercy, his suit left the chest part completely and utterly uncovered, so he didn’t have to take off any clothes. He stared straight at Shane’s growing, stiffening bulge. “Ready?”

No response from Shane, who was just breathing heavily.

Dusker undid the buckle of Shane’s belt, put it to a side, and pulled down the part of his suit that went on the groin, Shane’s dick springing up. “Whoa, someone’s excited already.” He suckled the tip, savoring the drop of precum forming on it. A hand went to his chest, and with his other hand on Shane’s cock, he rubbed the tip against his left nipple. Shane shuddered. “You like this?”

Shane bit his lip and simply nodded.

Dusker did the same for the other one, coating both of his nipples in slippery, salty precum. He almost wanted to go back up and make Shane lick it off, but he had to get to work. Of course, he rubbed his nipples a bit anyways, noticing how good it felt. “Huh… feels nice when they’re all slippery like this…”

He pushed Shane back, making him sit on the chair, and spread his legs. He pushed his pecs together, and softly rubbed the mounds of flesh against Shane’s dick. Shane shivered. From his half-lidded expression and the slight bucking of his hips, he was loving it. Dusker spread his pecs a bit, and closed them on Shane’s dick, trapping part of it upon his chest. “Hey, I can actually do this now…” He slowly pushed his chest up and down, masturbating Shane.

Shane leaned back, letting out a deep breath. He loved it. “Oh… faster, please.”

“Sure.” Dusker picked up the pace. He hadn’t given it a lot of thought but having Shane’s warm, throbbing length against his chest like that was getting him horny too. Even though his dick grew stiff against the spandex of his suit, he wasn’t about to put a hand down there and do something about it. He had to focus on his task.

Adam floated nearby, looking at the action and enjoying the show. He rubbed his groin through his leather pouch. “Dusker.”

“Yeah?”

“Shane’s dick is long enough that it’s almost touching your chin, no?”

Adam was right. It was really close to his mouth. He could smell the precum on it. “Yeah…”

“Try sucking it.”

He pondered the idea for a few seconds. He was already pushing his chest around someone’s dick – he might as well go the full way and give him a blowjob as well. He wrapped his lips around the head of Shane’s cock, running circles around it with his tongue as he kept pushing his chest up and down. Shane’s hips bucked in time with the stroking, and he kept not saying anything, but he obviously loved what was happening, if the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest was any indication. He flicked and pinched his nipples, letting out small moans. Dusker was getting pretty into it as well.

Adam undid the buttons on his leather pouch and slowly started stroking his own dick at the sight, still carefully examining Dusker. Neither Shane nor Dusker took notice.

Hands went around Dusker’s head, forcing him to bob his head up and down Shane’s dick – he wanted more. Though he was pushing his pecs together, he played with his sensitive nipples as well, still slick with Shane’s precum.

The pace picked up. Shane laced his fingers through Dusker’s hair, starting to pull harder. Dusker didn’t complain, only doing as he was instructed with the pushes on his head. After a while, he was fully getting skullfucked, his chest slick with his own spit, still wrapped tightly around Shane’s dick.

He was getting close. Shane muttered or moaned something under his breath – sounded like Dusker’s name. A few final thrusts, and he erupted in Dusker’s mouth, pushing as far as he could. Dusker’s eyes rolled up slightly, as he tried to swallow all of Shane’s load…

He couldn’t, and cum dripped down his chin and down from his lips onto his chest, in the crevice formed by his pecs pushed together. Slick, sticky and salty. After a few seconds in that position, he pulled back, taking a few deep breaths. He got up, straddled Shane’s lap, and pushed his chest on the man’s face, covering it and dripping cum down onto it. Shane’s hands went up to Dusker’s pecs, groping them. He pulled them apart, letting cum drip down the middle, and he lapped it up. With his lips coated in his own seed, he turned his head upwards and towards Dusker, almost pleading… Dusker obliged, kissing him. A wet, sticky mess formed between their tongues, cum flowing back and forth, Dusker’s wide, plump chest pressing against Shane’s own…

The clicking of a pair of buttons broke them out of this trance, as Adam put his dick back into his outfit’s pouch again. From the way he was licking his fingers and scraping off his body and the thin layer of body hair on it, he came as well. “Well done.”

Dusker swallowed, still tasting Shane. “Yeah? Did I do it well?”

“Splendidly. A good performance, like ones I’ve seen before.”

Dusker took a deep breath. “I’m glad.” Pause. “Can my chest go back to normal now?”

“Oh, right.” With a couple of finger flicks, Adam swiped the air, and Dusker’s chest went back to its regular (still soft and plump) size.

“Thanks. I’ll try to be more careful with my—“

Though Dusker tried to get up, Shane held onto him tight. One arm wrapped around his body, with a hand on his back, while the other hand gently cupped his cheek. Shane gave Dusker a curious gaze – a silent plea, a look that was almost sad. He didn’t want him to get up.

Dusker closed his eyes and breathed. “Maybe staying like this a bit longer won’t kill us.”

Shane closed his eyes. His hand went behind Dusker’s head, and he pulled the man closer, into a kiss. Slow, almost romantic. He was still yearning for whatever it was that he’d seen in his dream, and he wanted to get more of it while he could.

Adam’s eyebrows arched. He figured it was best to leave them to their business, so he disappeared into a portal and left. The two would keep making out for an hour or so. Time flew. They wouldn’t realize a lot of time passed until they noticed the orange tinge of the light entering through the balcony window. Dusker didn’t stop to question it – he was enjoying it, and even if the cold, sticky feeling of the dried cum against his chest was uncomfortable, the gentle touch of his friend was too good to really want to interrupt it. He had to go, though. He got up, gave Shane one last kiss, and after wiping his chest and face with a wet tissue, flew off.

Shane watched him leave. The yearning came back. The emptiness that he’d felt in his heart and gut after waking up from the dream that morning – that wonderful, simple bliss – washed over him like a bucket of ice cold water. Right then and there, tears streamed down his face. He slammed his fist down on the table, angry at the things he’d been made to see and how he couldn’t control his own feelings.

No use mulling over it. He’d have to get over it and continue making himself useful. He went back to his computer to check if there were any other alarms from citizens facing trouble that he could take on.

Outside his bedroom’s window, floating out of view, Adam crossed his arms. Maybe it’d be best not to reveal to the guys that he’d discovered a new power and tested it out on Shane. Injecting images from a possible future into his sleep, that the universe gave to Adam, was a resounding success, but the result seemed to only give him grief. Adam didn’t want to risk making that future impossible by telling Shane that that was what it was. He’d just have to cope with the grief.

* * *

In a subterranean base in an unspecified and largely unexplored island a few miles off the coast from the mainland, a man sat upon a large chair – not unlike a throne – and stared at a screen projected a few inches away from his face, displaying information on his plans. Dark skin, red eyes, and thick, long hair somewhere in color between white and gold. Beefy, rippling, well developed muscles, and dressed in nothing but white strips of cloth and golden chains hanging from several places in his body – shoulder pads, the belt a mere inch above his golden, snug underwear, his pierced nipples… That, plus his wild hairstyle and beard, with the moustache shaven, made him look like a sun. He let it get to his head. “So the incidents happening in the cities are getting solved faster each time…” He leaned to the side of his throne, his gaze narrowing. “That damned Shining Sword is working faster and better…!” He slammed his fist into the armrest. His monsters weren’t working fast enough – the cages lining the hallway leading to his room laid empty, as they were deployed on the cities to cause mayhem, and some of them would remain empty, the monsters defeated and captured.

He groaned and leaned back. “I’ll simply have to improve them. I’ll have to _make_ that useless professor improve them! Yes… that will do.” He had all the mannerisms of a villain from a children’s cartoon – the same sort of personality, attitude, and average intellect – with the only difference being that he existed in real life, and his outfit wouldn’t make it anywhere on an actual kids’ production.

He grabbed a pair of leash handles that hung from the side of his throne and pulled slightly. Almost on command, the two men kneeling before his throne – to whom the leashes were connected, one to each man’s collar – approached, crawling slowly. His two direct subordinates – General Twilight and Commander Nightfall.

The former spoke. “Yes, master.”

Nightfall didn’t say anything. One would assume that he didn’t know what was happening, what with the bandage covering his eyes, but he knew. He could tell regardless.

The man on the throne leaned forward and tilted Twilight’s general cap slightly, since it was crooked. The man blushed, the blush spreading as far as the pointed ends on his ears. “I am a bit miffed, General.”

“I’m sorry, master.” He bowed.

“No, not about your cap—about Shining Sword!”

“Oh. I’m sorry for that as well, master.” That was a dumb mistake.

The man simply exhaled. He pulled down his underwear, revealing a girthy, veiny cock, already at half-mast. “Service me, you two, to see if it helps at all.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, and Nightfall began to salivate. Twilight spoke. “Yes, master! At once!”

Nightfall simply growled – a low rumble under his breath.

The two men got to work, each licking a side of the man’s cock, driving it to a full erection. He leaned back on his throne and spread his legs further, giving the two leashed men easier access. They’d lick the sides, worship the full length, sometimes one would deepthroat the cock while the other suckled on the balls… they were talented cocksuckers, and if their own erections were any indication, they loved their state of affairs. To work under such a man and get to satisfy him.

It didn’t take very long for him to reach orgasm – he was rather pent up. He laced his fingers behind Twilight’s hair and grabbed one of Nightfall’s horns, pushing them against the tip, as spurts of cum erupted from it. They greedily licked it up, trying not to miss any drops. The man on the chair relaxed and exhaled, as they licked his cock clean and swallowed his cum. They began making out with each other, sticky strands of cum between their chins and tongues, stroking their own dicks, drawing a smile out of the man on the chair.

An alarm displayed on the monitor before him. A visitor was coming. The man pulled his underwear back up, hastily pushing his cock into a side of it, while the sound of the alarm caught the other two’s attention. He spoke up. “Dismissed. Continue that in your quarters and wait for me. You did well and you need to be rewarded.”

“Yes, master.”

Nightfall growled in response.

The two men got up and ran back to their rooms, still horny and with their faces still slick. The man on the chair tried to straight himself up and casually lean to a side, resting his head on his fist, to give the impression of an imposing figure to the new visitor – a cool, collected, powerful leader. He didn’t succeed entirely.

The new visitor arrived flying, and landed into a walk. The series of spandex strips covering his body and the helmet, belt and boots he wore were unmistakable.

Dusker.

The man on the throne perked up when seeing him. “Shadow Blade! My boy! It has been too long since we last saw each other face to face!”

“It sure has.” His head was turned low, and he was still wearing his helmet. He usually didn’t.

The man didn’t take any notice. “Any updates on… _our plan?_ ”

Dusker remained quiet for a few seconds.

“Shining Sword doesn’t suspect a thing.”

The man erupted into laughter. “Good! Good! He won’t know what hit him, then!” More laughter. “To think he would simply accept an enemy as his best friend! The absolute fool!”

Dusker kept silent. He took a deep breath before speaking. “…a damnable, ignorant, bright-eyed fool, for sure. Incredibly gullible. Impossibly idiotic in the formulation and execution of his plans, as well.”

That gave the man on the throne some pause. “Wow, that is… a lot of venom, Blade. Are you alright?”

Pause. “Yes. Nothing has happened.”

“Good!” Immediately, he relaxed. He wasn’t terribly bright, for someone that looked like the sun and dressed in gold.

A grunt in a simple, full body uniform would walk into the room. “System maintenance, sir.”

Dusker turned to face the new person. He didn’t recognize them. “Who’s this?”

The new guy pulled the visor of his cap down, slightly flustered. The man on the throne answered. “A new employee. Our new tech guy, who’s keeping all the systems updated and running. And a very nice guy, too!” He beamed at the two men.

The maintenance man cleared his throat. “And my name is Justin. Nice to meet you, Shadow Blade.”

Dusker nodded. “Oh, yeah, nice to meet you too.”

The man on the throne clapped his hands together. “Well, I am glad to see you again, Blade. I will be expecting our plans to come to fruition soon…” He stood up, aggressively, and waved his hands theatrically. “I _will_ have Shining Sword captured and will take over the world, or my name isn’t Colonel Helios!”

Beat.

Dusker dropped down on one knee. “Yes, sir.” He got up, turned around and walked out. Helios sat back on his throne, extremely content with his performance and actions that day.

Dusker only thought about how he had just insulted the man to his face and he was none the wiser. How, when he talked about an ignorant and bright eyed fool without good plans, the burn applied to Helios much more than Shane. How ridiculous the notion was that he’d side with a group of people that treated him merely as a weapon instead of his first and best friend, who he genuinely cared for. How glad he was that Helios was dumb enough to actually believe him when he said otherwise.

Justin’s sight followed Dusker as he walked off. His eyes narrowed. Unlike Helios, he didn’t buy it, but he couldn’t do anything about that yet.

“Well, you said it was time for maintenance, right?” Helios’ voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“Yes, sir. Please step off from the throne.” Justin produced a wrench from his pocket and pulled his cap visor up slightly, adjusting it. Helios got up and walked off, heading for Nightfall and Twilight’s quarters, to finish what he started.

Justin sat upon the throne and fiddled with the devices. He fixed a few things, optimized a few others, deleted a few gigabytes of porn off the hard drives.

And he learned every detail about the systems.


	5. The Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kink content: contains dominance/submission and humiliation, along with mating press.

Dusker never met his parents. He never even got to find out what their fate was. Had they both died before he was born? Did they just decide to abandon him? There was no way for him to know. As far back as he could remember, he lived in an orphanage, because he had no guardians and nobody could figure out if he had living relatives. Though the people that took care of him at the orphanage were nice enough, he never got too attached to them, and he always had the knowledge that he didn’t know where he came from hanging over his head. Other kids had distant relatives that visited sometimes, or they had information on who their families had once been, but no such thing existed for Dusker. It was as though whoever had birthed him had gone to great lengths to completely erase their presence from the world, and had succeeded, leaving him all alone, someone without a past, and, if nothing about his living conditions changed, no future either. The only information he had tied to him was the name “Dusker”, which was pinned to the clothing he was found in as a baby.

The original population of the orphanage dwindled bit by bit. All the other kids that he’d come to call friends were adopted into different families or moved to different institutions, for varying reasons. Some disappeared when that happened. Others came back to visit every now and then, but eventually stopped. On that front, too, Dusker was being left alone. One day, however, a man arrived, presented all the documentation required to adopt a child, and asked to see all the children before choosing who to adopt. Some did their best to butter the man up. Some didn’t even want to look him in the eye. Dusker didn’t react much. It was just another adult from the outside that would take a look at him, find him disappointing in some way, and then leave, like all the others that had come before him.

This didn’t happen. The man was beyond enchanted with Dusker, for whatever reason, bouncing off anything the little boy said. Dusker didn’t understand why, but occasionally the man fiddled with a small box he pulled from his pockets, that looked a bit like the phones the adults from the orphanage had, but was different somehow. The proper procedure was carried out – the transaction complete – and now Dusker was the adoptive son of the man. He was promised the world as he jumped on a car and abandoned the place that saw him grow from a toddler that couldn’t even talk into a little kid.

Dusker would later come to know the man that adopted him as General Twilight. He would never come to know him as a father. All the documentation Twilight had presented was fake – all the systems had been hacked to reflect his fake information as well, all because he had been ordered to find a child that could be trained to work for his organization, the Solar Project, and the organization knew there was a child with an affinity for power that they could use for that purpose. A couple of them, actually. They stole the research of a scientist looking into a new form of energy, that was naturally found in some humans, and that could be redirected and used to empower technology that was, at the time, completely experimental and largely hypothetical. The readings of that scientist were all correct, and the Project managed to build some equipment based on the research, to detect a focus of such energy. If the focus was trained from a very young age, it could fight for them. Two such foci were born, but they could only lay hands on one, because the other had been born to the same scientist that was conducting the research and would be a lot harder to kidnap.

This other kid would receive the name of Shane.

As soon as he arrived at the Solar Project headquarters, the man that had adopted Dusker completely dropped the friendly demeanor. He went out of his way to make Dusker understand that he wasn’t going back to the orphanage, and that he had a very clear purpose in life now, then disappeared. Dusker wouldn’t see the man for several years after that, but he’d soon forget his existence anyways. He’d be trained by staff from the Project in several combat arts, until his muscles were sore and his body gave up, every single day. He, a scrawny kid, would deliberately be overfed to ensure muscular hypertrophy but also a marked weight gain, to change the hormonal makeup of his growing and sensitive child body, and ensure he’d keep the bulk later on – for optimal strength, and he’d receive additional training so that his cardiovascular and joint health didn’t suffer as a result. He was kept in peak, perfect physical shape, but he’d stop growing up vertically after a certain point. Probably just his fate. He’d know how to use several weapons proficiently in combat before his thirteenth birthday.

He would also receive absolutely no love nor warmth from anyone. He wouldn’t learn how to communicate his emotions – only how to pretend to be completely inoffensive, so as to not raise suspicions in other people whenever he left the HQ dressed in civilian clothes. All he knew was roughness, aggression, and a single-minded desire to achieve his goals.

A perfect killing machine. A highly skilled and highly trained assassin. Someone with no past, and with no future to speak of besides serving the Project. A tool, designed to further the Project’s world domination goals.

Though he was also given a regular education by teachers maintained by the Project, the higher ups would decide to send him to a regular high school once he reached age 15. No better way of learning how to act like a normal human being than by hanging out with normal human beings, they argued. With that, more fake documentation was produced, he was given a fake surname and family history, and he would be enrolled in a nearby high school, on the mainland nearest to the island the Solar Project HQ was on. He’d be instructed to study and learn like a normal teenager, and try to make friends, only to study them, while keeping up his façade of a slow and completely harmless fat guy. He’d be given fake medical notes to hide every inch of his skin, to hide his impressive muscles from everyone, all to make them assume all his physical bulk was from overeating.

His first year was mostly uneventful. He didn’t make many friends, because nobody was really interested in hanging out with the dopey, slightly _weird_ new kid that nobody had ever seen before, and he even got picked on by a few of the bigger guys. This didn’t bother him. The only thing that bothered him was having to keep up the act instead of breaking several of his bullies’ bones on the spot so they’d stop believing they had anything on him. He had to remain silent, however – a perfect picture of a nice pushover. On his second year, a new student transferred over – an introvert, very unsure of himself, who didn’t talk much with anyone either. You only knew he was in a room because that head of bright orange hair was hard to miss. They were paired up by everyone else, exclusively because they were both outcasts in some regard.

The new kid was called Shane, and they would click immediately. Their personalities went really well together – or at least Shane’s personality would go well with the act that Dusker put up and pretended was his identity. In time, Shane’s own attitude would evolve, but Dusker’s act would seemingly remain the same.

Still, something happened. Shane’s affection for Dusker was genuine. They got along so well that Shane genuinely cared for Dusker, a lot – he’d help his friend whenever he needed help with anything, not question what he did or said, and try to get him to open up more to others. In a way, with Shane, Dusker learned what human warmth truly was. He learned what affection felt like – what love could feel like – and somewhere in his brain, the part that had deliberately been ignored by the Project’s upbringing began to develop. Shane was warmth. Light. Someone that tried to dig deeper, because he genuinely cared.

Dusker learned to care for other people, and he liked the sensation. He would also, once Shane became 18, learn that Shane was Shining Sword, the sworn enemy of the Solar Project – and, by definition, his own enemy as well. At some point, Shane’s father would be kidnapped and forced to work for the Project. It was then that he started to question if the goals of the Project were actually good. Being given a suit of armor identical to the one Shining Sword used, and given the name Shadow Blade, being deployed on missions, he got to test the efficiency of his powers… but also the amount of destruction and suffering that his actions, under the Project’s orders, would cause. He didn’t really like it at all. Even if he had been raised a cold and efficient warrior, Shane showed him what love and affection felt like – and he liked that sensation, but he hated having to be Shane’s enemy. A clear bifurcation in his life appeared before him; he could either betray Shane and further the goals he was raised for… or betray the Project, despite the fact that they had raised him from a toddler and given him everything he had, just to follow what he felt was right.

He didn’t get to make that choice. After a confrontation, Shane found out what the identity of Shadow Blade was, and he was taken aback by it to say the least. Dusker was devastated. He’d have nightmares about that fight for weeks after the fact. The Project would propose him a plan – he could go to Shane, pretend that he had turned over a new leaf, and then backstab him. Dispatching Shining Sword would mean the last roadblock in the Project’s path would be gone, and they could fully begin their world domination plans.

It was the best plan Dusker had heard his whole life.

Because it gave him an incredibly easy way out of the Project, and to get closer to the man that had given him a real meaning in life.

A couple of years after the fact, he was going to do that, and enact his ultimate plan of betrayal.

And the raw anxiety of that fact gnawed away at the edges of his mind, keeping him up at night and from concentrating on tasks.

* * *

A regular morning, over a cup of coffee. Dusker had decided to visit Shane and explain a plan he had, leaving his own apartment (that the Project was paying for). Shane knew that Dusker used to belong to the organization he was fighting. What he didn’t know, however, was that he was technically still a member.

“…so, yeah. Basically they think I’m gonna betray you at some point.” Dusker ran a finger over the lip of his cup, uneasy.

Shane stared straight at him for a few seconds. “Wait, what? So they think that you’re still working for them, and that you’re a double agent?” He took a sip of his own cup. “So, since you’re actually on _my_ side, that’d make you a… _double_ double agent?” Shane rubbed his temples.

“I guess.” A lazy sip from his cup of coffee. “It’s a mess. My brain hurts having to keep track of these fucking… double versions of each story. But this is how I’ve been able to anticipate some things the Project does, and sabotage plans.”

“Right…” Shane stared down at his cup. “This can benefit us, right?”

“Yes. That’s what my plan hinges on, basically.” Dusker took a deep breath. “So, I could tell them that you plan to storm HQ at some specific day, after some amount of preparation. They’ll tell me to go with you, and help ‘storm’ HQ.”

Shane kept looking at Dusker, expectantly.

“Then I’ll ‘backstab’ you and bring you to their jails. They’ve got a bunch of cells down there where they keep a few prisoners. Your… your father should be there.”

Shane looked down.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t figure out how to get him out earlier. I bet it feels rotten.”

“No, no, it’s alright, Dusker.” He flashed his friend a smile. “We just… at least there’s a plan to get him out now.”

“Yep. I ‘capture’ you, bring you to a cell, let you out, let your father out as well, and then dismantle the whole thing from the inside. All their plans and programs and shit are all on a _single_ mainframe, next to the throne room where Helios sits and gives people orders.” Dusker downed the rest of his coffee cup. “Plan might need a bit of polishing, but that’s the rough idea I have now.”

“No, that’s perfect! It’s great that they think you’re still with them, Dusker!”

Dusker grimaced a bit.

“Sorry. I don’t know how else to put it.”

“You’re right, though. That’s the plain truth – they still think I’m working for them. Just stings a bit to hear it out loud like that.” He chuckled. “Guess it’s my fault on some level.”

Shane drank the rest of his coffee cup and put it down. “One… last thing, though.”

“Hm?”

Shane put his hands on Dusker’s, gently. Dusker wasn’t expecting it, and a small blush crept up his cheeks. “You’re… _sure_ that you’re on my side, right?” There was concern in Shane’s voice – not for his own safety, but for Dusker.

Dusker remained quiet for a couple of seconds, before putting his hand on Shane’s, cupping him. His hands were a bit bigger than Shane’s – fingers shorter but girthier. He found that a bit funny. “Yeah. I’m sure that I want to be with you, Shane.”

It was Shane’s turn to blush. He chuckled nervously, looking off to a side, before turning back to Dusker. “Thank you, big guy.” He went in for a kiss. A gentle peck on the lips, short and sweet.

Dusker gave him one last squeeze on his hands before getting up, grabbing the cups, and taking them to the kitchen. Shane asked another thing. “When should we do it, though?”

Dusker paused. The answer would be uncomfortable. “As soon as possible. Today, if at all possible.”

That made Shane get up from the table. “Wait, what?”

“It’s just for the best. The more time we give them, the longer they’ll have to beef up their defenses or begin suspecting that I’m gonna betray them, shit like that. Sorry to tell you in such short notice, I just wanted to do something before they get more time, cause… I feel they’re preparing something big.”

Shane kept quiet as Dusker returned to the living room, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. “…okay, yeah, we can do it today, then. Anything to beat them, right? I’ll go get ready then.”

“That’s good. Been thinking that we have another secret weapon on our side, too.”

“Huh?”

“Adam.”

The slight grin from Shane’s mouth disappeared. “Really? Hasn’t he said that he’s gonna be impartial because the universe hasn’t told him what he has to do yet or something?”

“We won’t know if he’ll help us until we ask. Best case scenario, he says yes, and he never has to find out what that role shit is all about because all our problems just disappear tonight. Worst case scenario, he says no, and… we just fight like hell. We can do it on our own anyways, I’m sure of it.” Dusker tried to shoot him a reassuring smile.

It worked, somewhat. “Alright… you go and find him, then ask.”

“Oh, one last thing, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Well… I’ve got a roof over my head because the Project is paying for my rent in the city. I don’t have a job beyond taking odd hero jobs, so if we kill the Project, the payments just stop, and I… end up homeless.” He scratched the back of his head. “I guess I could just rob a bank and use that cash to pay rent, but people are starting to see me as a hero and shit, and robbing people would… make that reputation fade.”

Shane almost anxiously awaited what Dusker was going to say next.

“So… I think I’d have to move.”

No words.

“Somewhere else. With someone that I know, because I don’t have another choice.”

Shane’s fingertips were almost trembling.

“So, like…”

“Yes, Dusker! You can move here!” He ran forward and gave Dusker a tight hug – not as tight as the hugs Dusker could probably give, given his size and strength, but Shane tried his best anyways. “You could have just asked that upfront!”

“Heh.” He returned the hug. “Guess I could have.”

“I’ve never had a roommate… I’d like the experience! Specially if it’s… um, you…” Shane looked away, blushing.

Dusker chuckled, flicking him on the forehead. “You really wear your heart on your sleeve, huh? Not that it’s a problem, though. I think it’s charming.”

Shane smiled. He gave Dusker a gentle kiss, that turned into making out. There was a sort of joy in that. They spent about an hour together…

* * *

“Yes, I will help you.”

That was easy. Dusker had sought out Adam (after cleaning up following what he’d done with Shane) to propose the idea to him. Adam didn’t even hesitate and said yes instantly, which… took Dusker aback. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Why would I not be?”

“Well, there’s all that stuff about the universe and your part to play and all that shit…”

“If I had a part to play, I would surely have heard of it by now. And, besides, it’s not as though your world is telling me to _not_ help, so surely it won’t hurt.” He crossed his hands, sitting back on a chair in Shane’s living room.

Dusker kept quiet, and Shane spoke up after a couple of seconds. “I guess that checks out. Glad to have you on board for this.”

“So, I only have to warp you inside the HQ, yes? Near the entrance?”

“Yeah, I think. Wait, actually, can you see where my father is in there?”

“I should be able to. I could even warp him out at once.” Adam closed his eyes and put a pair of fingers against his temple…

…and frowned. “…hm.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I see… nothing. That is not information that the universe wants to give me. I know for sure he is within that facility, but I cannot tell you exactly where he is.” He crossed his arms and looked off into the distance. “I do not think I would be able to warp you anywhere but the entrance, either. Strange. Maybe the universe wants the events to play out in an incredibly specific fashion…”

Though he tried not to let it show, that made Dusker a bit nervous. “Well… as long as we have you by your side, we should be able to do it, yeah?”

“Feasibly. Probably.”

Afternoon approached. “Think we should be going off now…”

“Very well. I will warp you there, follow you, and help you, but there might be a point where we have to go separate ways. The information the universe is giving me is… strange, right now.” Adam seemed deep in thought. “There is one last thing I have to tell you before you decide to enact your plan.”

That gave Dusker cold chills. “Yeah?”

“Do you recall how I mentioned being present in this universe was affecting my powers? How, since the universe at large was informed by sex and pleasure, my new powers reflected that state of affairs – which I proceeded to test out on you?”

Dusker resisted the urge to groan. How could he forget.

“I… get the feeling that the opposite phenomenon might be in action as well. My mere presence here is altering _something_ about the rules of this universe, but I cannot pinpoint what.”

They had nothing to say to that, but it wasn’t reassuring at all.

“I simply wanted you to know. The universe I hail from is… not a pretty place. It is entirely feasible that, whatever it is that my influence is on this universe, it is for the worse. Be careful and keep your guard up at all times during your mission.”

“We will.” Shane sounded reassured, but Dusker saw through his bravado – he could tell that he was nervous.

“…yeah.” He himself wasn’t bothering with that.

Adam got up and opened a portal behind himself. “Well, we should get going, in that case. As I said, I will help as much as I can.” With that, he turned around and leapt forward, disappearing into the blackness of the portal. Shane and Dusker activated their armors and followed—

They weren’t ready for the fall. For some reason, the other portal had opened on the _roof_ near the entrance, instead of near the ground, so they fell a good few feet in the air. Some clicking of their boots and they boosted themselves to break the fall, while Adam simply fell to a knee, his own fall broken by an odd gravity anomaly he caused. He examined the area. “Why…? I could have sworn I opened a portal on a wall…” He stood up and turned to Shane and Dusker. “Something odd is happening. Again, keep your guard up.”

The two didn’t really know what to do differently, but they gripped their swords tighter anyways. Advancing through the facility was rather uneventful – surely a consequence of them expecting Shane’s invasion via Dusker’s intel. They didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, and it was as though all the guards had been dismissed. Finally, they were before the throne room before long. Adam decided to hang back, instead of entering, so as to not alert anyone to his presence (though surely they would have seen him already if they paid attention to the security camera feed).

At the count of three, Shane and Dusker barged in, and there, on the throne, was Helios. His eyebrows arched as they both burst in, and he hastily stood up. “What is the _meaning_ of this!?” Always one for theatrics. “Shadow Blade, explain yourself! Why are you with the enemy!?”

Dusker didn’t reply.

“How could you betray us so…?” The man’s gaze wandered to Shane slowly… and a grin appeared on his face. “…is what you would want me to say, isn’t it, Shining Sword?”

Shane gasped. “What—“

Almost on cue, Dusker tackled Shane and pinned him to the ground, facing down. “You’ve been had, Sword.” He whipped out what looked like a zip tie and, grabbing Shane’s hands behind his back, cuffed him together.

Shane struggled. “Let me go! Blade! I thought you had turned around! I… I thought you were my friend…!”

Dusker didn’t reply, letting Helios’ booming laughter fill the empty space. The golden man spoke. “You have been a _fool_ , Sword! Thinking that my most loyal subordinate would simply betray me because you hung out a few times… Now savor the consequences of your actions and waste away while I take over the world!”

Dusker yanked Shane upwards, forcing him to stand and pocketing the grip of his sword. “Walk. You will rot in a cell.” A harsh push towards Shane’s back, almost like he intended to hit him, and Shane staggered forward, grumbling to himself, while Dusker followed shortly behind, his sword drawn. Dusker walked Shane over to a cell, in a different, lower floor of the building, harshly pushing him in and making him trip to the ground before slamming the bars closed.

He looked around and listened. Once he was sure that nobody was around, he cut the zip tie around Shane’s wrists and tossed him his weapon through the bars. All according to plan. Shane grabbed his sword grip and rubbed his shoulder, which had hit the floor when he was tackled. “Good performance, Dusker, but did you have to push so hard…?”

“Look, Helios is a fucking idiot, but I had to keep it convincing anyways.” His voice was a hushed whisper, to make sure nobody around him could hear.

“I get that, but I… hadn’t realized how heavy you were…”

“Way to call me fat, dude.” He snorted. His eyes wandered downwards, to Shane’s groin. “…did that give you a boner?”

Shane blushed and tried to cover his dick through his suit. “S-shut up…”

“Right. You like it rough and you like being tied up. Noted.” He chuckled to himself. He got up and held his palm up, signaling Shane to be quiet. “Someone’s coming. Hold on. Wait here and pretend you’re captured and defenseless.”

On cue, Shane sat against the wall, hands behind his back, holding his sword grip and looking defeated. Dusker walked off, and once he turned the corner and was out of view, Shane could hear his voice, talking to people he couldn’t identify. Then, silence for a few seconds… followed by the sound of struggling and fighting, though it was obviously an incredibly one-sided battle, and over in less than ten seconds. Dusker obviously won that, but Shane hoped he had just incapacitated the guards. The man walked back to his cell, throwing the door open. “We have to go now.”

“W-what?” Still, Shane got up and ran to Dusker.

“They’re flooding the facility with guards. Several shifts were activated at the same time. Something’s going on.” He drew his sword, holding it with both hands.

“Okay.” No time to wonder what was going on – they’d have to fight now, and Adam wasn’t by their side. That was great. He activated his sword as well and dropped into a battle stance.

“Oh, though… think there’s someone you need to meet.” Dusker grabbed Shane by the wrist and ran, bringing him to a different cell…

Before the bars, laying on the bed, was his father. Shane almost dropped his sword. “Dad!”

The man on the bed was jolted awake, in his lab coat, and sat up. He adjusted his glasses and narrowed his gaze, to try and focus on what he was seeing, almost like he didn’t trust his eyes. “…Shane?” He got up and brushed some of his hair back with his hands – a receding hairline, with slightly thinning hair, that was once orange like Shane’s but was starting to fade to white – while he ran to the bars of his cell and gripped them, looking at his son. “Oh, no, did they get you too?” He didn’t seem to mind how his son was dressed whatsoever. He turned to Dusker. “Unhand my son right now, villain! He has done nothing! Well, I guess he has stood in your way a lot, actually…”

“No, dad, he’s helping me, he’s a friend!”

“Oh.” He adjusted his glasses and looked at Dusker again. “Really? Because I’m pretty sure he works here…”

“He’s on my side now…”

“Interesting… when did this happen? I had no idea…”

Dusker looked around. The man was… exactly as absentminded as he remembered. “Love your family reunion, but we have to leave.”

That got Shane’s dad’s attention. “Oh, yes, I’m being rescued, right!” Pause. He tried to move the bars of his cell to a side. “How am I being rescued?”

Dusker sighed. “Well, I guess I’m not coming back to this place, so… stand back. Both of you.”

After Shane and his dad complied, Dusker held his sword to the side. With a mighty roar, he swung it around, spinning on the balls of his feet and slashing at the cell door twice. His sword cut cleanly through the cell’s bars, top and bottom, knocking them back and to the ground with a loud, clanging sound. It also made some pretty nasty cuts on the walls next to the cell’s gate, which was… mildly terrifying.

Of course, Shane’s dad stepped out of the cell like nothing had happened and dusted himself off. “Alright, thank you for getting me out, villain. Now, where is the exit?”

Composing himself, Dusker spoke. “Far from here. Stay close to us. Shane, let’s go.”

Shane was still reeling a bit from seeing such a display of violence and power from Dusker. He blinked twice, before going up to Dusker. “A-alright. Let’s finish the mission.”

They ran off, careful that they weren’t being chased and with a massively physically unfit middle aged man running behind them. Not the most optimal conditions to flee in. Before they left the floor, however, a portal appeared on the floor before them. Hands emerged from it, and a man pulled himself up through it – Adam, looking more than slightly miffed. “What in the hells is happening in this place…? I _finally_ found you two.” He looked at the newcomer, who adjusted his glasses at the sight of the new man. “You three. Introduce me to the man later. Something happened.”

Dusker walked past Adam, beckoning him and everyone else to follow. “I realized. There’s way too many guard shifts on right now. They never do this, so they must know something’s up.” He ran up the stairs… and stopped at the end, hearing a horde of guards approaching. “Shit.”

Adam looked at the group of four for a second. “…I think I know what to do. You need to reach the throne room again, yes?”

“Yeah.” Dusker was already tensing up, in case he had to fight.

“I will follow you there and then try to hold these off. Shane, get ready to run. Dusker, lead the way. Old man…”

He turned to Shane’s dad. He sighed. With a snap of his fingers, the man levitated in the air, above their heads. He seemed to have no problem with that, if his amused reaction was any indication, but Adam was mainly slightly miffed at the man’s attitude. “I suppose this is all you can do. Right.” He turned back to the stairwell, walking forward and standing behind Dusker. “On my mark.”

Adam did something. Shane and Dusker couldn’t quite explain how, but he was moving energy in from the environment and concentrating it in his body. He was breathing deep…

In a burst of light, the image of a spectral compass surrounded the group, centered around Adam. A powerful force field, that would repel all attacks.

“Go!”

Dusker, Shane and Adam sprinted forward, with Shane’s dad floating in the air a few inches behind them. He seemed to be marveling at everything that was happening, ignoring the severity of their plight. The crowd of guards spotted them and began running after them, shooting – though all the shots were stopped by Adam’s magic. It was exhilarating and terrifying in equal parts. Though it only took about a minute to reach the throne room again, it felt like many more.

More guards had appeared, closing in. Adam dropped the old man on the ground and barked orders at the other two. “Go in! I will hold them off!”

Something in Adam’s energy shifted. The spectral compass aura around him shattered and all the force was channeled forward, knocking a large part of the crowd backwards. Though Shane and Dusker had already forced the doors open, they were still intrigued by what Adam did. The man slowly stretched his arms to the sides, and the air felt drier. He raised his arms as the crowd of guards closed in, weapons trained on his head, and purple sparks formed in the air.

When he harshly swung his arms downwards, an explosion of lightning and plasma made a booming sound in every direction, the raw energy traveling down the hallway and knocking out the guards – by jolting them with electricity and energy, and if that didn’t knock them out, knocking them into the walls and ceiling so hard that they lost consciousness on impact. The blow of energy was so powerful that the recoil even hit Shane and Dusker, almost like a bomb had gone off mere inches before their faces. The knockback was so strong, in fact, that it forced the doors to the throne room closed once more. The two heroes were mildly scared of the amount of power Adam seemed to wield.

Shane’s father, on the other hand, was fascinated. “Interesting! I wonder what technology he is using…”

Shane smiled, and Dusker was baffled. He had no idea how someone like _that_ could sire and raise someone like Shane, who seemed to be so… _well adjusted_. No use worrying about that now.

They advanced a few steps, before being interrupted by two figures – General Twilight and Commander Nightfall. Though Nightfall didn’t speak, he looked angry, baring his teeth and ready to fight.

Twilight broke the silence. “I _knew_ it! I knew something was up with you, Blade! You might have fooled the leader, but you didn’t fool me! Your betrayal ends here!”

The grip on Dusker’s sword tightened and his words came out low, threatening, like a guttural growl.

“ **You.** ”

Dusker stabbed the sharpened end of his sword into the ground. Holding it with both hands, he sprinted forward, dragging it through the steel. He pulled it up, slashing upwards, releasing a blast of long, tall energy, aimed directly at Twilight. The man only narrowly dodged, but the blast of energy kept traveling along the ground, hitting a wall – and exploding on impact.

Shane told his father to look away.

Twilight was visibly shaken at that development. He wasn’t expecting an attempted murder whatsoever. “W-wait, what are you doing, Blade?”

“Don’t fucking speak my name. I’m not on your team anymore, so I don’t have to pretend to like you. You ruined my life from the very start, and you’ll pay the price for it.”

Twilight sweated cold. “Wait! But you don’t have to use your sword like that! You can just subdue me like you and Sword usually do it every time you beat me!”

“Why? If I do things _my_ way, you won’t be able to come after us once you recover, because there _won’t_ be a recovery.”

Even Nightfall, who was the more animalistic and fearless out of the two, was obviously frightened at the development.

“Alright, but… uh…” He looked around. He didn’t know how to deal with that situation. He’d never had to have a serious confrontation like that, where the other party obviously wanted to kill, and he didn’t want to cause serious harm either.

So, he did what he knew best and ripped off his pants, laying on the ground and exposing his hole. “W-what if I gave you access like this for free? Would you, uh, not kill me in that case?”

Dusker pondered the offer. He took a couple of steps forward, approaching. “The only thing I want more than seeing you dead on the ground is making you my bitch.” Then, he stepped on Twilight’s chest, looking down at him. “Beg for it.”

Shane didn’t know how to react. That was a side of Dusker he’d never seen, and it frightened him – and from the looks of it, it scared Twilight as well, if the trembling of his hands was any indication. Maybe it was a natural consequence of the kind of “upbringing” Dusker got, which Shane was told about. Maybe part of it was revenge, since it was Twilight that had taken Dusker out of the orphanage, and Dusker was letting some pent out anger out. It’d be a bad idea to get on Dusker’s bad side from then on… but he was still worried.

“P…” The words coming out of Twilight’s mouth trembled. “Please… give it to me… sir.”

That wasn’t good enough. Dusker bent forward, grabbing Twilight by the neck, and yanked him up, forcing him into a kneeling position. Still holding his drawn sword, he pulled his underwear down, revealing his stiff dick. He grabbed Twilight’s hat and tossed it behind himself, putting a hand behind his head, interlaced with his hair, and forced the man’s face directly against his cock. “ **Beg. For. It.** ”

Twilight’s breathing picked up, but a blush ran to his face as well. “…please, sir.” If the growing stiffness in his pants and the wet patch on his groin was any indication, he was loving being treated like that. “Please… feed me your cock. Please, fuck me, and breed me.” His voice still trembled.

“Mouth open.”

Twilight complied, and he got Dusker’s cock slapping against his tongue for his troubles. It felt weighty. Girthy. He drooled, a strand of spit stretching down from his tongue and dripping to the ground. Dusker grabbed the sides of his head and thrust in, forcing Twilight to deepthroat him – which shocked the man, but he adjusted soon after. Even if Dusker was girthy, he was still not as big as Helios, so he was used to taking bigger things. Of course, Dusker wouldn’t hear that.

While thrusting in and out of Twilight’s mouth, Dusker turned to Shane. “Get the other one.”

Shane’s eyes turned to Nightfall, who shrank under his gaze. Shane wasn’t very sure of how he’d go about that, but at least it seemed to be that Nightfall was so intimidated by Dusker’s presence that he had no will left to fight. He still had to be defeated, however – the old-fashioned way. Shane pointed his sword at Nightfall and slowly walked to him. Nightfall put his hands behind his head and slowly dropped to his knees, a low rumble emerging from his throat. Though he was less into being treated like that than Twilight obviously was, he still liked it, if the mild blush on his cheeks was any indication.

Shane still didn’t quite know what to do, so he turned to Dusker. He then pulled his dick out, stroking it to full length, and put it inside Nightfall’s open mouth, a fair bit less aggressively than Dusker had done. It was warm. Okay. Nightfall knew how to suck dick but Shane’d had better.

Twilight was getting into getting skullfucked, even if he could hardly breathe. Tears formed in the edges of his eyes and streamed down his face, but he didn’t seem to care much. He slowly stroked his dick through the bulge in his underwear—

Dusker pressed the tip of his boot against his bulge, painfully. “Who said you were allowed to get off?” Twilight whined in pain, with Dusker’s dick still in his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shout, and more tears ran down his cheeks. “You are only here for me to fuck, and if that’s not enough to make you cum, well, tough shit.” And yet… something about being so thoroughly debased was exciting. His dick twitched.

Dusker switched positions when there was a healthy puddle of precum on the ground beneath Twilight’s cock. He took his dick out of Twilight’s sopping wet mouth, leaving him gasping for air, and slapped it against his cheeks a few times. Then, with a boot to his chest, he pushed him back, knocking him into a laying position. “Legs up.”

Twilight complied.

Dusker got on his knees and ripped the man’s underwear off entirely – it looked expensive so that probably stung a bit – and put the tip of his dick against Twilight’s hole. The man gulped. Dusker began pushing in, bit by bit, before his dick had wholly disappeared inside Twilight’s ass. It was so wet from Twilight’s spit that he didn’t need any lube, but being spread open like that still made him arch his back and clench his hands into fists holding his legs. He made a sound – between a moan and a howl – and cried out in pleasure.

Observing this, Shane hastily grabbed the back of Nightfall’s head and pushed it to the very base of his dick, before pulling out. “G-get on your back and do what the other guy is doing.”

Nightfall did that, grateful that Shane wasn’t as rough or aggressive as Dusker, though he didn’t make it known. Shane pulled Nightfall’s underwear off and pushed his dick in, more slowly than his friend, starting to fuck Nightfall. He was tight. Obviously not very used to taking dick, if his reactions were any indication.

Dusker wasn’t done. He eventually leaned over Twilight, pushing his weight down on him and thrusting harder, in a mating press position. The usual, for when they were defeated, but Dusker was more aggressive than usual. Wet slapping sounds filled the empty space – rough and aggressive. Dusker’s hands went to Twilight’s neck, choking him out. Between hoarse gasps and breaths, Twilight’s tongue lolled out of a side of his mouth, drooling, with his gaze unfocused, locked in complete orgasmic bliss. With a few final thrusts and low groans, Dusker shot his load deep inside Twilight, pumps of cum so plentiful that they started spilling out and going to the ground. Useless, overstimulated by the throbbing inside his ass and against his prostate, Twilight’s dick twitched and dripped cum onto his belly, through his underwear.

Shane didn’t take his eyes off of Dusker for one second. He was a beast. Even though he was fucking a whole different man, it was seeing Dusker go at it like that that was getting him off. He came as well, breeding Nightfall pretty thoroughly, though Nightfall didn’t cum himself, unlike Twilight. He still gasped in bliss, but it was nothing special. Shane couldn’t stop thinking about how he came while watching Dusker completely dominate a man. Maybe Dusker _was_ onto something when he joked that Shane liked being tied up and dominated.

That was a matter for later. Dusker got up, his dick dripping cum onto the ground. He wiped it on his hands and smeared the cum on Twilight’s chest. “Disgusting.” Shane got up, doing the same. They’d just have to leave the two men gaping, exhausted and defeated on the ground.

Time to move on. After putting his dick inside his underwear, Shane called out to his father. “Hey, we’re moving!”

The man was marveling at the sounds of the sex. “Oh, how strong! I had no idea that you could get that amount of power from the suits!”

“Please don’t make this any more awkward than it has to be. Just follow us.”

The sounds of fighting had died down behind the door they had just crossed, but they had to cross another closed gate before meeting Helios on the throne. They ran forward, abandoning Nightfall and Twilight to their fate, and Dusker knocked the door open with a kick, nearly blowing it off its hinges.

On the throne sat Helios, anxiously looking at the footage from outside. His attention was jolted to the three men that just entered his throne room from the sound of the gate slamming against the wall. “W—Blade! What is happening!?”

“The end to your ambition, Helios.”

Helios looked almost heartbroken. The vague whimsy in his words was now completely gone, as he realized he was going to be completely and utterly defeated, and couldn’t think of anything else to do. “But… but we raised you! How are you betraying us like this…?”

Dusker squeezed the grip of his sword tighter and bared his teeth. “…no. You did not raise me. You kidnapped a poor, innocent kid off an orphanage, with his own hopes and dreams, and thoroughly destroyed him, then used the broken parts to build an ultimate weapon. You didn’t raise me – you just molded my body into a vessel for power and didn’t once care to think about what I had to say about it.” He tilted his head towards Shane. “Sword here put an end to that. He was, from the moment I met him, everything that you pieces of shit refused to give me. He…” He was almost at a loss for words. “You built a weapon and a trap, but Shane saw the human within and got him out, and also gave him the love he’d never gotten from anyone before.” His voice trembled, and tears streamed down his cheeks. “You were _fools_ for thinking I would betray the only person that’s treated me like a human my whole life! I would choose to stab you in the back one million times before touching so much as a single hair on his head, you dumb fuck!” His voice was fully breaking. “I **hate** you! I’m only doing what I’ve wanted to do for years, and you’re going to have to sit and watch!”

Shane was touched. He choked a little. “Dusker…” He took a couple of steps forward and put a hand on Dusker’s shoulder. He wished he could hug him, but it was best to keep their guard up at that moment.

Dusker’s sobbing stopped, and he put a hand on Shane’s, trying to calm his breathing.

Helios was taken aback by the spectacle, and one could almost glimpse pain in his eyes. “No…” He couldn’t deny that what Dusker had said was true, and he had every reason to hate them. “Did… we make a mistake?” He looked down, a worried expression on his face, at his hands. Behind the trio, Twilight and Nightfall crawled in, still too weak to fight, only able to watch. They wanted to at least see their leader one last time, but they weren’t ready to see him so broken. It hurt as well. “Twilight… Nightfall… did I go too far?” He actually sounded hurt. “We’re… the bad guys, right?”

They remained silent.

“Dusker… maybe he deserved better… but everything I— _we_ did…” He clasped his head in his hands. “No! I… only wanted to help! Once I ruled the world, I would try and make everything better! There’s just… so much suffering, everywhere! I could have helped with that once I was the leader of everyone! But…” He looked at Dusker, a lone tear running down his cheek. “Dusker, I… I loved you as a child, but the things I did… it all broke you. You deserved better. What… what good were my goals, if I hurt the one person closest to me?”

Dusker felt nothing but disgust. Even if the shock of seeing Helios without the classic cartoon villain bombast he usually had was strong, even stronger was the nausea he felt when he said he loved Dusker like a child. “You loved me like I was your son?” He took a deep breath. “…then you should have acted like it. But it’s too late now.”

Helios looked at him for a few seconds, a tear streaming down his other cheek. “I… yes… I should have. And I guess I can’t go back and fix that.” He looked around. “…but I can still fix this. I don’t—I don’t have to take over the world by force. I could… we could all turn around! Like you joined Sword, maybe we can all try to fix everything! We can use all this technology we have to try and help people! It’s not too late!” He looked almost hopeful. “I… I am Helios! I’m not a leader, I’m a follower! I want to be a hero! I’m good! I am—“

His words were cut short with the sound of a projectile soaring through the air and smacking against his neck. He patted the area of his neck, pulling out what looked like an empty dart, previously full of some fluid that was now running directly in Helios’ bloodstream. It was a big dart. “What…”

He only had a split second to contemplate what happened before he collapsed to the ground, eyes still open. His clothing ripped in several places, bare skin hitting every step of the way as his limp body rolled down the staircase leading to his throne. Once he hit the bottom, he was left facing down, eyes lifeless and staring directly forward, as drool dripped from his mouth onto the ground. It was hard to tell, but he was still breathing, albeit very slowly.

Though Shane and Dusker tensed up, trying to figure out what was happening, Twilight and Nightfall stood and tried to run towards the throne, tripping over themselves – they were still too weak.

“…you’re a waste of my damn time, that’s what.” A new voice emerged from the shadows, back and behind the throne, from a perfect angle to shoot a dart at Helios’ neck. From there emerged someone that Dusker had only seen once and not paid much attention to, holding a smoking dart gun, just shot.

Justin, the maintenance guy. He kept speaking. “Good assessment, Dusker – he didn’t do anything right. Good performance as well.” He walked forward and sat upon the throne.

“What…” The anger in Dusker’s body was replaced with a mix of shock and fear.

“What _what_? The guy was an idiot and was wasting all the power he held. Thank you for distracting him long enough for me to do something about it.” He looked down at the lifeless body of Helios and spat on him, from all the way atop the throne. “Guess I’m also glad that he was stupid enough to just hire some maintenance guy he knew nothing about and give him access to the whole facility’s details. Was pretty easy to activate a shitload of guard shifts to dispatch you two once you did your part in my plan – but I guess that wasn’t enough. Oh well.”

“ _You_ orchestrated all this?” Dusker didn’t know what to feel.

“Yes. That’s what I just said, isn’t it? Listening in to your plans, watching them be executed from the shadows, trying to dispatch Helios and take over for him once he was gone – all of it. Remarkably easy. And you played your part perfectly.”

Dusker activated his sword. “Why do you think we’re just gonna let you take over? You’re just some scrawny kid and have no weapons!”

Justin arched an eyebrow, unimpressed. “No, but I have control over the programming of the whole facility.” He leaned over to the side, taking out a controller from his pocket. “Watch.”

He pressed a button, and all the alarms in the facility blared, all the lights switching to red. Every single cage where monsters were contained was opened, and the monsters themselves were whipped into a frenzy – surely some part of their programming was also changed. Violent thrashing sounds came from several parts of the building, as the beasts rampaged. “All at my beck and call, and with the right buttons pushed. Impressive, no?”

There were too many. They’d soon start pouring in from the door behind the throne, but Shane and Dusker had no chance of fighting them off while also protecting Shane’s father.

“We have to get out of here, Dusker!” He grabbed Dusker’s hand and pulled him backward. With a start, Dusker turned around and sprinted down the hallway, as the sound of the beasts broke into the room. Shane ran as well, holding his father’s hand and sprinting as far as they could go.

They wouldn’t make it. The beasts were simply too fast, and they were heading straight for them. Maybe they’d have to stop and fight. Maybe there was something else to do. Maybe it was simply over…

Then, rips in space appeared beneath them and they fell through. They fell for a few seconds and were spat outside of the facility, in an open field, Adam looking at them. “Are you unharmed?”

Shane got up, checking if everyone else was alright. “Yeah, we… nothing happened to us.”

“I knew something was off. I felt something disturbing coming from that room you were in, and got myself out. For a mercy, I could also feel where you both were, and I got you out as well. There was a lot of energy in there, and I do not know what would have happened if you had stayed there.” Before any of them could say anything, he pressed some fingers against his right temple for a few seconds. “…I see.”

Another set of rips in space appeared, and out came Nightfall and Twilight, tripping over each other and cowering to the ground. They looked around, marveling at the fact that they were still alive. Softly bathed in the moonlight and thoroughly broken, they were a lot less threatening than they used to be.

“Why did you get _them_ out?” Dusker spoke up, looking at the pair in disgust.

“The universe told me to. I think. Something incredibly weird is happening to the voice of the universe right now, and I think it ties to what I told you, about my presence here altering aspects of your world. I feel I know exactly what is happening now.”

Shane perked up.

“You see… in the world I come from, all justice is signed in blood. Violence is the daily bread, and you can usually find some unfortunate person dead if you adventure through the realm – dead from poverty and exposure, murdered, the victim of a robbery gone wrong, killed by some kind of beast… the list goes on. I feel this aspect of raw violence accompanied me when I entered this world, and began infecting and changing it. Do you remember when you first encountered me? How your immediate drive was to attack to kill, instead of what you usually do? The influence my violence aura has is affecting everyone in this universe, including you.”

Shane couldn’t help looking at Dusker, and thinking about what he’d said and done in there. Dusker was obviously thinking the same thing as Shane, if the way he looked down at his hands was any indication.

“There was a particularly powerful focus of that energy inside the facility, and I couldn’t pinpoint it until it was too late. It’s that man, the one that took over. That is the biggest focus of the violence from my world inside yours – his soul was completely consumed by this drive to kill.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “And he is now also the most powerful man in the world. His raw aura was distorting the flow of my power, so there was nothing I could do in there. I apologize for that.”

They all looked around, lost in thoughts. Shane was the first person to speak up. “Well, what do we do now? There’s… _something_ that can be done, right?”

Adam tapped his temple. “I do not know. But I get a feeling that such a threat won’t go away until the man lies dead – or until he completes his plan. I have no idea what his plan could feasibly be, but it can’t be anything good.”

Dusker threw his hands up behind his head and walked around, frustrated. “We’re really in it now, huh, Shane?”

Timidly, Twilight spoke. “I… don’t know what’s happening, but if I may…”

Dusker glared at him and he shrank, but he kept speaking anyways. “I don’t know who you are, man in the leather straps, but… could you please rescue my leader? Our leader? I don’t know what I’d do with myself if he…”

“How about we just leave him in there to be ripped apart by the beasts? For all the shit he’s made the world go through, he surely deserves that.” Dusker spat out bitter poison, bile lacing his every word. “Maybe that’d be a better use of our time.”

Adam tapped his temple and closed his eyes. “No, I think there might be merit in rescuing him. For all he made you go through, I get the feeling that he will be useful moving forward, and his apology was genuine, rushed as it was. I’m sorry, but that is the verdict, Dusker.” He focused harder. “…but I cannot feel his presence. The facility is a big mess, and I cannot feel the presence of _anything_ in there. He ought to still be alive, however, but I cannot know for how long.”

Thus, they were back at square one, without a plan, and with a much more dangerous enemy to boot. Shane sighed and looked down. “At least I got my dad out. I guess.” He was frustrated as well, but didn’t know what to do with the feeling.

“Be prepared. Things might get worse from now onwards, you two. Nothing you cannot deal with, I hope, and I will help as well, since this is technically my fault.” He rubbed both of his temples with his fingers – not to get readings on the voice of the universe, but to deal with an oncoming headache. “That is all we can do, I fear.”

None of them quite anticipated just how bad it’d get.


	6. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No kink content, since this chapter contains no porn. General content warning for descriptions of gore and death.

Another day marked another disaster. The change in power from Helios to Justin cleanly exposed just how much power the Solar Project held, and how terribly it was managed by Helios. Where previously the nominally evil organization did minor property damage and sometimes kidnapped a couple of people that were found mere days later completely hale and healthy, now cities were completely demolished to the ground, and innocent people were kidnapped and never seen again, if they weren’t killed on the spot. Suddenly, people began actually fearing the shadowy organization that used to be a mere nuisance to be combatted (in rather spectacular and erotic ways) by a group of heroes, the most important of which was Shining Sword, afterwards joined by Shadow Blade.

But the frequency of the incidents was starting to wear them thin. If it wasn’t because Adam was working with them, and was more efficient and powerful at containing deadly threats than either of them, then surely the cities near the coast would have been overrun with monsters by that point. The man was starting to become a sort of local celebrity – a savior, clad entirely in black, that suddenly emerged when the beasts turned violent, blowing them into ash and star plasma. However, not even he could keep fighting forever, for his form was still limited and human – at least, as far as Shane and Dusker knew.

The three sat in Shane’s apartment, in their underwear. Shane and Dusker sat at the dinner table and Adam laid down on the couch, with his eyes closed. Dusker brushed a lock of hair away from his face, disgruntled, and Shane leaned back on the chair, arms crossed, looking down, and bouncing his leg.

“Y’know.”

Shane’s gaze perked up.

“If it wasn’t because of our situation, I’d probably be bending you over this table and fucking you hard.” Dusker snorted. “You know I love it when you wear those orange briefs.”

Suddenly, Shane’s worry and tension melted away, replaced with embarrassment. He covered his face and looked away, trying to hide the luminous blush on his cheeks. “S-stop…”

“Hey, not my fault you’re over there looking like a damn snack—no, a _full course meal._ ” Dusker smirked. His own tension melted away, apparently.

“N-not in front of…”

If the half-smile on Adam’s lips was any indication, it was too late to stop. “Oh, far be it for me to stand in the way of your raw passions.” He stretched some more on the couch, lifting his arms, armpits in plain view. “A good way of relaxing, I would say, since you aren’t doing much fucking while fighting off these things.”

Suddenly, the mood in the room got a bit more tense again, but it wasn’t as unbearable as it was before. They’d just come back from fighting another contingent of monsters in a neighboring city and went straight for the shower when they returned. At day five after Justin apparently killed Helios, they were still not quite used to the pace at which they had to fight the things, and how resistant they’d gotten. It happened so often, as well, that they stopped bothering to talk while they rested. Their energy was better spent recovering until they inevitably had to get up and fight something again.

It was exhausting.

Shane was the first one to break the silence. “What do you think his plan is?”

Adam spoke up. “To wear us out, take us out, and then take the cities out. At least that is what it looks like to me. It is an unrelenting assault and us doing nothing leads to people getting killed. The people growing exhausted and dying is not his end goal – it is _us_ he is after.” He rubbed his face. “Not because we are his end goal, but because we are an obstacle.”

Shane falls silent for a few seconds. “You got all that from the way we’re having to fight?”

“Yes and no. From that and from the way I have fought foes that have used similar strategies against the armies I have fought in. A war of attrition, it is called, and it is heavily stacked against us, because we are just three people, and he holds an ever-growing army.”

Dusker pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “The fuck do we do then, if each time we cut a head two grow in its place?”

Adam remained silent. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and sat up, eyes open. “That is a great idea, actually. The hydra will not die by cutting its heads, but it will die if its heart is stabbed directly.”

Dusker seemed almost taken aback at the suggestion that he’d accidentally said something smart. “Wh… really?”

“Yes. The onslaught is unending and will not stop unless we take out the root cause for it, and the root cause is Justin, sitting on that throne. We have to take him out directly. How… did this not occur to me before? That is how I have won onslaughts in the past.” Adam rubbed his temples and sighed.

Shane got up. “Hey, so we just get rid of the guy and then everything’s good, yeah?” The word “kill” felt heavy for him. He knew that’s what it would entail, but he didn’t want to say it out loud. “When… do we do that?”

Adam crossed his arms, staring straight ahead. “The best time to strike would be now.”

“Wait— _now?_ ”

“Well, I doubt we will be any less tired tomorrow. The onslaught will continue and it will keep wearing all of us down, so we might as well end it now, for good. It might be hard, but it won’t get any easier.”

“R-right.” Shane left the room and fetched his and Dusker’s sword grips. “Might as well…”

The door to the bathroom burst open and out came tumbling two men, wearing only towels – Twilight and Nightfall, who were obviously eavesdropping on the conversation. The three in the room turned to look at them. “W-wait! Take us!” Twilight spoke up, scrambling to his feet, his towel falling to reveal a soft cock, somewhat shrunken by the cold. As he realized his nakedness, Nightfall got on a knee and held the fallen towel up in front of the man’s groin, to cover his indecency. Nightfall, for his silence, was obviously the most composed part of the duo.

“Why?” Dusker was the first one to interject. “So you can join your new boss?”

“What? No! We want to help, we can help fix this!”

Dusker harshly got up, almost kicking the chair behind him. “You had over twenty years working under Helios to fix things, so you will have to fucking forgive me if I don’t buy that you’re suddenly good, yeah?” He crossed his arms. “Specially you, dipshit. I’ve got _reasons_ to distrust you, and you’re aware why.

A chill ran down Twilight’s spine as he hastily put his towel back on. “Listen, Bl— _Dusker._ I know what I did was wrong, and I can’t apologize enough for it, ever, but I’m trying to fix things. I really want to make things better now, so please let me try.”

Adam stood up and walked over to Dusker, putting a hand on his shoulder. “For what it’s worth, they have been helping us fight the monsters and have risked their lives to do so. And, besides, you have me by your side, so if they try something funny, they can be easily disposed of, yeah?”

Twilight cringed at the statement while Nightfall seemed to not reply. He knew it was true – Adam held some terrifying power – but he didn’t like to hear it out loud like that.

Dusker’s stance finally relaxed. “Fine. But if they try to pull some shit, I’ll be the first to drive my fucking sword so far up Twilight’s ass that he becomes my scabbard, alright?”

Adam didn’t say anything. Whether he approved or disapproved of the statement wasn’t wholly clear. “Very well. Get dressed, all of you. I know we don’t wear a lot in the way of real clothing when we fight, but we are at a tactical disadvantage clad in just our underwear or absolutely nothing.” Adam showed absolutely no shame in throwing his black briefs off to summon his elaborate getup of leather straps plus cape. Shane and Dusker put on their power suits without much trouble – they just needed to activate it, after all. Twilight and Nightfall didn’t have that luck, but they didn’t wear much so it didn’t take them long either. Twilight did feel a bit flustered when Nightfall dropped the towel to look for his clothes, but it soon passed when he realized nobody was looking at him – and that they had more pressing concerns.

Adam pressed his fingers against his temple, and slowly opened a portal. “There is something weird happening in the headquarters, and my powers may be weakened. I’m warning you all right now that you will have to give it your all.” The portal was open. Standing in front of it, almost in a triangle formation – Adam directly in front, Shane and Dusker to either side, and Twilight and Nightfall further back – they looked ready. It was odd. It was almost a heroic team, and one hell of a hero team it was.

That was a bitter thought.

Adam walked ahead, and as Dusker took a step forward, Shane grabbed his wrist. “Wait. Uh, you two, go ahead.” Twilight and Nightfall ran in, almost bumping into each other as they tried to enter the portal.

Dusker looked back at Shane. “Huh?”

Shane took a breath, like he was trying to find the right words. “I know we’re about to do something big and important, but I just… wanna ask something first.”

“Sure.” Maybe that wasn’t the response one wouldn’t expect out of someone as serious and easy to anger as Dusker – but it felt like he had infinite time for Shane.

“Right.” He paused, pacing back and forth a bit. “You know, we’ve done a lot of things together, yeah? Like, sexually. But the last few times I’ve felt that there’s, like… something more. I feel. I don’t know.”

Dusker’s stance relaxed, but he didn’t say anything.

“So, I just…” Suddenly, he hesitated. “No, nevermind. We’ll have time to talk about it when we—“

“What’s on your mind? Tell me.” He snorted. “You’ve already got me here, waiting.”

Shane paused, mulling over his words carefully.

“What are we, Dusker?”

That definitely caught him off guard, if the choked sound that emerged from him was any indication. He composed himself soon after, however. “Well… lemme turn that around on you; what do you _want_ us to be?” From his gentle smile, he knew what the answer would be, and accepted it.

Shane sighed. “I hate when you do that…”

“Hey, you’ll have to say it out loud.”

“I-I’m asking you out, okay? Like, I _like_ like you as a guy, and the sex is great, so I just want… something more.”

Dusker chuckled – a low, rumbling sound, that Shane had come to associate with comfort and… protection. He walked forward, surrounding Shane in his arms, looking up at his face. “Deep down you’re still that socially awkward nerd, huh? I’ve always liked that in you.”

His heart was almost beating out of his chest. “Is that a yes?”

“That’s a yes.”

Shane let out a sigh of relief. Dusker planted a gentle peck on his lips, locking a few moments, before they were left staring at each other, gentle eyes behind the visors of their helmets. “Thank you, big guy.”

Dusker chuckled, a blush creeping up his cheeks. “Of course. I’d be crazy to say anything besides that, y’know?” He let go and smacked Shane on the ass. “But we’ve got more pressing matters right now, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Expect me to grill you more on the matter when we come back, though. I love it when you get all awkward like that.”

A sound, almost like a dissatisfied groan, left Shane’s mouth. “The horror…”

They jumped into the portal next, leaping out to an odd, oppressive atmosphere. The soft blue glow of the usual lights was replaced by a dim red light, and it felt as though thousands of eyes were staring at them at that moment. Anything could leap out at any moment.

Adam looked at them a few seconds with a curious gaze, before turning to face forward. He wasn’t going to ask what had happened. “Odd. The atmosphere is incredibly heavy. This feels almost familiar. Be prepared for anything.”

They advanced in silence, Shane and Dusker’s swords drawn, Nightfall holding a sword in a scabbard, and Twilight anxiously fiddling with a gun while looking around. Nothing appeared for a while. Then, suddenly, at a crossroads, a loud buzzer rang out, and the sound of a stampede approached from the distance, coming in from two of the directions spreading out in front of them. Adam’s eyes narrowed and he took a few steps forward. He took a deep breath—

“Wait, I can handle these!” Twilight ran forward, staring at the darkness of the corridor in front of him. Though his fear at the coming stampede and the growling echo on the walls was great, his resolve to help was greater. “Nightfall! Take the other hallway!”

Wordlessly, Nightfall stepped forward, drawing his sword – a slim, pale Katana – and holding it above his head with both hands, pointed upwards.

“Alright, let’s see if…” Twilight dropped to a knee and fiddled with _something_ in his hand. “Yes! The system is still there!” Behind him, what looked like a cannon materialized, its bright blue searchlights a stark contrast against the dim red of the headquarters, scanning the environment. They locked forward, illuminating the oncoming horde of monsters – ravenous, muscular, aggressive beasts, with sharpened claws. Twilight didn’t falter.

Opposite of him, Nightfall took a few deep breaths, a sort of invisible energy concentrating in his blade. It started glowing faintly – nowhere near as bright as the searchlights of Twilight’s cannon, but no less powerful because of it. A snap, and his blade hand twisted backwards, him slashing the air in front of him in a frenzy, leaving many lines of energy on it. He was ready. One final slash…

As Nightfall gave his final slash, the cannon behind him traced a line with a laser on the ground.

On both ends of the hallway, bright bursts of white light exploded – the energy Nightfall had left in the air bursting forward, and the ground lit up by Twilight’s cannon exploding upwards, decimating the monsters in front of them.

“Go! We’ll hold them off!” Nightfall and Twilight seemed to be set. With that, Adam, Shane and Dusker ran forward, Adam trying to push some intrusive thoughts from his head regarding where and how those two learned to do that.

…

It didn’t take long to find the throne room from there. Shane hoped that Twilight and Nightfall could hold their own. Adam knew they could. Dusker didn’t really care. Sat on the throne, Justin looked incredibly out of place – leaning over to a side, peering at them approaching lazily. Decadent. More decadent and menacing than Helios had ever been, with a cape lazily draped over his shirtless body. He’d lost the cap at some point, revealing short, messy brown hair. Unremarkable in every way. “You’re here.”

Dusker clenched his fist. “Sure as fuck are, bastard.”

“Oh, give me a break with that tough guy attitude, Blade. You’ve got no place to talk to me like that.” He stood up, holding a controller in his hand. If it wasn’t because of that, Dusker would have surely rushed forward and cut his arm off right then and there.

“What do you want, Justin?” Shane spoke out, his grip tightening, less in anger and more in nervousness.

Justin rolled his eyes and sighed. “Not much. The end of civilization, and it turns out the Project has the technology to make that happen. Just release as many monsters as possible and set them to reproduce and absorb as much biomass as they can, and before long the unchecked growth covers the whole planet. Human civilization dies in an orgasmic torment, before the beasts themselves starve and die as well. Simple plan, no?”

Shane blinked a couple of times. “ _What?_ How—what? How does that benefit you?”

“It doesn’t. I just want it all to end. The Solar Project sought to end all human suffering, and I’m ending all human suffering. I’m just ending all humans as well. It’s more efficient, I’d say.”

“That’s… that’s horrible! That’s monstrous!”

Though Shane was outraged and Dusker was furious, Adam had nothing to say. He’d heard similar rhetoric before, and it was technically correct, but it was then more than ever that he felt Justin had to be stopped. “You’ve gone far enough, Justin. I’m ending this right here and now.”

Slowly, the man turned to face Adam. The gaze was so intense, he was basically glaring daggers at him.

“ _It’s God-Emperor Justus for you._ ”

With the weight of the words hanging in the air, he pushed a button and a loud, high frequency sound blared through the speakers. Shane and Dusker were forced to cover their ears as they dropped to their knees. Adam, strangely enough, was affected as well, and the sound came too quick for him to cast something to protect himself. Justus was strangely unaffected. He kept rambling on, a sickly smile growing on his face. “While you _idiots_ kept fighting all the shit I sent your way, I just kept increasing my powers and my tech, getting stronger for your arrival! I can’t take you on one on one, or against you as a group, but if I manage to incapacitate you… I can defeat you! I can get rid of you for good and complete my goal!” He materialized a cannon from thin air, holding it up with both hands, too heavy for his body. It charged up. “I can end it all, here and now!”

He aimed the cannon directly at Shane’s head.

The ringing of the loud sound ended, and the first person that reacted was Dusker. He stood up. He took in the sight. He looked at Shane.

“No!”

He had an idea what to do. A spell Adam had taught him. Adam could do nothing, still keeled over. Something to change positions of things.

The cannon fired, a beam of high, concentrated energy.

He cast it on Shane…

Shane and him changed positions, the kneeling man warped a few feet away, while Dusker stood where he used to stand.

The beam phased directly through his body, as he warped directly in its path.

The scream of pain he let out drowned out all sound remaining in anyone’s ears. Adam’s ears perked up as he was brought back down to reality. Something bad had happened, but his powers were too dulled to do anything about it. Justus dropped his cannon, shocked at the sight.

A gaping hole, driven directly through Dusker’s belly, blood dripping down. Gore and intestines threatened to spill out at any moment, and only a few strands of muscle still protected his spine. His head turned down, but before he could look at what had happened, his gaze unfocused. Coughing up blood, he fell back, his body slamming against the ground. A sickening snap followed the impact, and he couldn’t feel his legs anymore. All the shock, all the pain, and how the beam had destroyed part of his stomach – he coughed up vomit, dripping down the side of his face, as his breathing became forced.

That wasn’t what Justus wanted. The beam was just supposed to knock Shane back, slamming his head on the ground, shattering his helmet and knocking him unconscious. He didn’t want such a gory death for Dusker. But him phasing into the beam like that…

“…no.” Shane realized that what was going on was real. As he ran towards the downed Dusker, he took his helmet off and tossed it to a side. Adam kneeled next to the rapidly fading body, cursing himself for not being able to cast anything to help. “No, no, no, no, no…”

Dusker’s hands covered the gaping wound, futilely trying to stop the bleeding, but it was only doing him even more damage. He couldn’t focus. His ears were ringing, and his fingers were going numb. Was this what it felt like to die? Strange thing to find out. He didn’t expect to get that realization that day.

A flash of orange entered his field of vision through his helmet’s visor – Shane. That was a nice sight. It was nice to see him.

Tears welled up in his eyes, the pain proving too much for him.

“Dus-Dusker! No, don’t… don’t…” The desperate Shane looked at the wound. It was even worse than he thought. He couldn’t do anything. He didn’t know any healing, he couldn’t cauterize the wound… “Adam! Do something! Please…!”

Adam frowned and looked away, impotent.

Shane was starting to hyperventilate, his breathing picking up more and more.

“Shane…”

He turned his gaze towards his friend. A hand went to his cheek, smearing blood on it. It was a weak touch. He tried to calm down as much as he could, to listen to him.

Maybe, in his final moments, Dusker had made an important realization. “It’s alright…” He took a deep, forced breath. “Just… live. Get out of this, and… and thrive. I know you can. You… you have a lot ahead of you. My best friend. My love.” He gave Shane one last, weak smile, a tear running down his cheek…

…then his eyes unfocused, for good, as his hand dropped to the ground, limp and inert.

Time felt like it stopped, as Shane looked at the body of his friend – of he who had been his lover for a grand total or an hour – lay lifeless on the ground, eyes staring into nothing, and blood and puke streaming down the corner of his mouth.

It wasn’t fair. Someone that had suffered his whole life like that and had only, towards the end of his life, gotten a sliver of happiness and warmth, shouldn’t die then and there like that. He had less than nothing through life, and now he would never achieve anything else. It wasn’t fair. It couldn’t be. And yet, it was the reality of the situation.

He took a breath. He grabbed Dusker’s grip, holding it in his left hand, while he held his own in his right. Emotionless, he rose to his feet, before slowly turning towards Justus.

This scared the man. He scrambled forward, reaching for the cannon again and trying to charge it up again, but _something_ broke inside, and it exploded, knocking him on his back, hitting his head against the throne behind him.

Shane approached, staring at his eyes, lifeless. The man’s normally timid, caring expression was gone, and with blood smeared on his cheek, something much more sinister took its place. He felt nothing. He saw nothing, too shocked to think. He just had a primal urge, and he was going to fulfill it.

As Shane’s footsteps approached, Justus pushed himself further backward in a panic. There was nowhere for him to go and nothing for him to do.

Standing in front of the cowering man, he held both scabbards above himself and activated the swords. The energies weren’t meant to be put together so close to each other like that. They reacted and intermingled, growing more and more, until an absolutely monstrous grey blade towered above Shane. It was raw power. Destruction, in its most pure form.

“Wait, no! Stop!” Justus raised a hand, hoping that it would change anything.

Shane swung down the massive blade effortlessly, cutting everything in front of him in half. The cut was so wide that it was visible out the side of the island, cutting some trees down outside as well.

The first thing to hit the ground were severed fingers, from the hand Justus had raised. Then, the arm went limp against his side. His eyes, locked into an expression of pure terror, slowly drifted away from each other, as the two neat identical halves his body had been cut in slid against each other, drifting apart until he split in half, like a grotesque, bloody, gory flower opening its petals. Dead, and without any chance of recovery. For good.

Shane’s arms went limp to his sides, the swords disappearing. He dropped his own grip to a side, while holding Dusker’s close to his heart. He couldn’t bring himself to look at the body, but at least the grip had Dusker’s scent all over it.

He dropped to his knees, and then on his side, in fetal position, eyes shut. Then and there, he allowed himself to break down, tears erupting from his eyes, loud sobbing as he trembled. He’d gotten love and then it had been taken away from him, with his one true friend now dead behind him. He’d have to bury him and then move on. He’d have to pretend it was alright and go back to work. It wasn’t fair. He didn’t want it. But it was his reality now.

The lights returned to their normal bluish hue, with Justus’ influence now gone.

* * *

A few feet away, a few minutes ago, a man from another world cursed his existence as life rapidly left his best student. He saw that final, dying confession of love, and the way Shane completely snapped, intent on doing something horrible to Justus. He’d seen that before, several times.

He wasn’t going to stop Shane. With a flick of the wrist, he snapped a mechanism within Justus’ cannon, causing it to explode, and then he let whatever was going to happen take place.

And yet… he looked back at Dusker’s lifeless body.

_I don’t want to die._

A voice rang in his head, clearly Dusker’s. Of course he didn’t want to die.

_I don’t want to die._

A pang of guilt crossed Adam. He pressed his finger against his temple, to see if the universe had anything to say about what was happening.

_I don’t want to die._

Nothing.

_I don’t want to die._

All the choices made in the universe up until that point led up to that moment, and now there was nothing. Nothing for him, nothing for Dusker.

_I don’t want to die._

Dusker was supposed to die, right then and there. That was the will of the universe – the overarching plot that it had all been leading towards, from the moment Adam entered that world. A sad plot, of betrayal, of promises left unfulfilled, of suffering that the survivors had to carry with them for the rest of their lives, a heavy and dark shadow upon their hearts. A plot that ended before his eyes.

_I don’t want to die._

…

_I don’t want to die._

**Adam refused that fate.**

He rose to his feet, looking around. He shut his eyes in thought… and suddenly knew what to do. Dropping to a knee, he grabbed Dusker’s lifeless, bloody hand…

Though his body remained grounded, slowly leaning forward, his mind – the absolute culmination of him, the self – leapt upwards, heading in a direction incomprehensible by regular minds. Here, away from the red lights of the facility, pure darkness enveloped him.

_I don’t want to die._

Dusker’s body looked at him from a distance, a hand stretched out to his astral body, tears streaming down his cheeks. He was being pulled, inexorably, towards a bright light, slowly, almost through slow motion.

Heaven. Or, at least, whatever passed for heaven in that universe. The warmth of the light was all-encompassing and comforting, and two pairs of hands reached out from there, pawing uselessly against the empty space, trying to reach out to Dusker. He would eventually be grabbed by them and taken to his final resting place. Heaven. Even through all the things he had done in life, he had been so good that that was his ultimate fate.

Maybe the hands were Dusker’s parents. Maybe he would finally meet them, if he went towards that light.

_I don’t want to die._

He wouldn’t go towards that light. Adam decided, right then and there, that it wasn’t his time – that his and Shane’s stories wouldn’t end like that. Adam moved through the space and grabbed onto Dusker’s hand, holding tight. He pulled back, tugging on the ties he held with the physical world, and they both drifted away from the light. Adam’s astral body returned to his physical body, and Dusker’s returned to his body. Both of their hearts began beating again, both of their brains began working again. Dusker began bleeding again – not for long, as a massive surge of healing would shoot through his whole body, healing every wound he had and would ever have. Adam’s brow furrowed, as the power he channeled into Dusker translated into warmth and comfort. The man could feel his legs again – and he didn’t feel a horrible, empty, cold pit in his stomach anymore.

Adam finished, and he staggered forwards, landing on all fours.

Dusker sat up, looking at his teacher. “Adam…”

“I’ll survive. I just need a few moments.”

In the distance, the clattering of a grip against the ground, the lights turning back to blue, and gross sobbing.

Dusker got up, getting used to having a body again, and he walked up the steps, towards the curled up body. He tried to ignore the gore and blood in front of him – had _Shane_ really done all that?

“Shane…”

Shane’s brow furrowed harder, curling up even more. For all he knew, he was now being tortured with the sound of the voice of the man he was unable to protect. It was all in his imagination, and it would all go away.

“Shane!” Dusker kneeled next to him, grabbing his shoulder and shaking.

Shane slowly opened his eyes, looking at the purple blur in front of him. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them once again, trying to process what he was seeing, his gaze a mixture of confusion and horror. He sat up, touching the cheeks of the man in front of him desperately. No, it couldn’t be. He slapped his own cheeks – surely he’d wake up and his body would still be lying inert a few feet behind him. He was starting to hyperventilate and cry again—

“Shane!” Dusker grabbed him by the wrists. “It’s me! You’re not dreaming, this is real—“

Shane leapt forward, pinning Dusker to the ground. “You’re back! You’re back! You’re…” He clenched his fists, a sensation of impotence and relief washing over him. “But how did… what…” He clenched his eyes shut, tears dripping on Dusker’s chest. “Don’t…”

Dusker remained silent.

“Please, don’t… don’t _ever_ leave me again…” He started sobbing again, collapsing on Dusker’s chest. “Don’t… leave…” It was a bitter cry of several emotions – grief, relief, raw emotion that he didn’t know how to process.

Dusker just put a hand behind his head and another behind his bare back, holding him tight. “I won’t.” His own voice choked – he was going to cry as well, witnessing Shane’s emotion. “I won’t… I won’t ever leave you again. I swear. I’ll stay by your side forever and ever, until we both have to go, and… and I’ll stay with you after that too. I’ll stay.” He squeezed him tight, feeling tears well up on his own eyes as well. Leaning back against the ground, he just let them run down his face.

Maybe that was what love felt like.

They stayed like that a few moments, until a set of footsteps approached them. It walked up the stairs leading up to the throne. “No, stay like that a bit longer. It’s alright.” Adam sat on the throne, controlling things on the monitors. He spoke into the monitor. “Come to the throne room, as soon as possible. Bring him.”

After a few minutes, three sets of footsteps approached. Shane and Dusker sat up – a wounded Nightfall and Twilight, both with a few scratches on their bodies and blood running down their muscles, were supporting a man that had to be Helios. Same skin tone and build, but all his hair was shaved off, and his usual zest was completely gone, looking defeated and out of it. He smiled at the pair weakly as he saw them. “Dusker…”

Dusker didn’t feel like getting angry at that moment, so he just eyed the three curiously.

Adam spoke up. “Up the staircase, if you can.” They approached, slowly, as Adam waved his hands in the air a bit, their wounds closing – some magic Adam had, surely. How did he have magic reserves after what he had done for Dusker? Did the frost on his fingertips have something to do with it as well?

Adam fiddled with the controls on the throne a bit more, as all the others looked at each other wordlessly, not sure what to say. Maybe a few heartfelt apologies were in order, but they were all too tired to think of that.

A voice played on the speakers.

“Self-destruct sequence activated. Time before explosion: ten minutes. Please, evacuate the facility before this time.”

Dusker looked at Adam. “Uh…?”

Adam sat back on the chair. “You see, for a few moments I considered taking over the facility and using it to rebuild everything, but… you saw what happened when all this power fell into the wrong hands. All the destruction, death and suffering that one man working on his own could bring about, in only a few days. What if several people took over this, and they had evil goals in mind? That sort of malice is now woven into the very fabric of reality in this world, so we cannot leave all of this power here. We also cannot ‘take what we need and leave everything else’ either… it’s for the best to just get rid of all this knowledge and science. We already have what we need outside, anyways. Maybe, if this all goes up in a fireball, we will avoid an incident like this ever happening again.”

Everyone slowly nodded, even Helios. He didn’t protest. He knew it to be true, on some level as well.

“Time before explosion: nine minutes.”

Adam crossed his arms. “It should take us five minutes to walk out of the facility and another four to reach the shore, but we don’t have to do that. You three.” He looked at Twilight, Nightfall and Helios. “You should say your last goodbyes to this place before you never see it again. I doubt you need to do that, Dusker.”

He just nodded. Twilight and Nightfall left the room, presumably heading for their quarters, while Helios looked at the throne. Understanding what Helios wanted, Adam got up, nudging Justus’ corpse away with his foot. Helios sat back on the throne, taking one last uneasy breath on it while rubbing his chin. He spoke up. “You are right, strange bondage man.”

Adam had to contain himself from laughing.

“I gathered a lot of power and technology here to rule the world once I got to control all of it, because I wanted us all to be successful. To live upon the sun. That was why I called this organization the Solar Project. Also why I donned the name Helios and why I named by right and left hand men Twilight and Nightfall… how selfish of me.” He sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back. “I really went about it all in the worst way possible. My efforts would have brought about a lot of unnecessary destruction and pain, and leaving all of this here just let someone else take over it and use it for profound, senseless evil. I guess that is my fault in a way.” He chuckled bitterly. “To think I wanted to save the world, and the things I did could have brought it to an end because of my own mistakes and not knowing when to stop. I guess in that way, it’s better if it all goes up in smoke. I’m glad I added this self-destruct option to the design of the facility…” He rubbed the sides of the throne, almost trying to memorize the feeling. “I’ll miss all of this. Even if, cut in half, scarred from battle, and covered in blood, this is the most realistic and clear depiction of what it represented. I’ll miss it anyways.”

It was bizarre to see and hear Helios say things that were genuinely smart, in Dusker’s eyes. He was just a bumbling idiot who didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground last time he had seen him. Maybe the time spent in the jail had taught him a few things and forced him to examine what he was doing carefully. Maybe he had been tortured. He certainly wouldn’t have shaved his own head and beard – those were his pride and joy.

“Time before explosion: seven minutes.”

No use thinking about that now.

Nightfall and Twilight walked back into the room, carrying a few things in their hands – some essentials and personal items they hadn’t been able to withdraw the last time they fled, surely.

Adam clapped his hands. “There is nothing else we want to save here, right? Only personal effects.”

Everyone nodded.

Adam opened a portal. “This should leave us by the shore, in the forest that leads to the beach. Where we fled last time. That is as far as I can get from here, but afterwards I could take you all to your houses.” He waved and walked through the portal. Twilight, Nightfall and Helios followed. Shane and Dusker got up last, grabbing their helmets and sword grips. They held hands, looking around, at that place they’d never see again. Maybe it was for the best that way.

They walked out, and the portal closed. The automated system was giving another warning, but they didn’t get to hear the full thing before the portal closed. It was nighttime already. An unspoken agreement washed over them, and they waited at the edge of the woods, looking at the unassuming island in the distance. Shane sat on the ground, emotionally and physically exhausted, and Dusker followed shortly after, sitting by him. He put a hand around Shane’s waist, and the man rested his head on Dusker’s shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

“Remember how you said you were gonna grill me once we got out of there?”

Dusker nodded.

“Can that wait until tomorrow? I don’t really wanna do… anything today.”

Dusker just nodded again, understanding exactly why, just holding him tighter.

After a few minutes, a flash of light emerged from the hidden entrance in the woods of the island, as the facility self-destructed, the fireball stretching into the sky, before it was replaced by silence. Though a few plants had caught on fire, the island was mostly unscathed. Strangely cautious design.

It was over. It was all over. And they had made it all out safe and sound.

Shane closed his eyes.


End file.
